For years, the alleged leader of a notorious drug cartel enjoyed huge power in the sport – but his influence is now waning
The Irish sportswriter Kieran Cunningham belongs to a small group of investigative journalists who are entitled to feel proud of their resolute courage and persistence in exposing Daniel Kinahan and his damaging control of boxing. Last Tuesday, at an extraordinary press conference in Dublin, US government officials stressed their determination to bring down the intimidating drug cartel allegedly run by Kinahan and his family.
“I would never think of it in terms of vindication,” Cunningham says after stressing that the journalistic heroes are the Irish crime reporters who investigated Kinahan long before he turned to boxing. “I just felt relieved, because it’s taken up so much space in my head for years. It felt like banging your head against a brick wall. Everyone who works in boxing would just say: ‘That’s boxing. It’s always been like this.’ As long as the fights are made they don’t care.”