Illustrative image: Daniel Kinahan, wanted by the US government. (Photo: Supplied) | Boxing ring. (Photo: Unsplash) 
A suspected global drug and money laundering cartel leader cemented himself in international boxing circles, sparking stubborn suspicions about aspects of the industry, some of which hover near South Africa.
At the centre of this is Daniel Kinahan, who the United States (US) sanctioned in 2022 and accused of leading the Irish-origin Kinahan transnational organised crime group, better known as the Kinahan cartel.
He has not been criminally convicted.
Kinahan based himself in Dubai, which happens to be where a cocaine trafficking “supercartel” was headquartered – Daily Maverick previously reported on its links to South Africa.
According to US authorities, Kinahan oversaw drug trafficking via associates in Dubai and “money laundering operations which have been commingled through various legitimate commercial businesses”.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/US-governments-wanted-poster-for-Daniel-Kinahan-copy.jpg "The US government’s wanted poster for Daniel Kinahan. (Supplied)")
There are widespread suspicions that after Kinahan’s 2022 sanctioning, he remained involved in promoting international boxers, but discreetly and via proxies acting on his behalf – fronts.
Some companies in this arena, which a businessman this week described to Daily Maverick as dominated by “personalities, power and money”, may have been negatively affected simply because of assumed ties to Kinahan.
‘Aware of suspicions’
On Monday, 8 September 2025, Boxing South Africa’s spokesperson Luthando Zibeko confirmed to Daily Maverick that around the time of the US sanctioning, it “became aware of the suspicions relating to Daniel Kinahan and the boxing promotions industry”.
It had not flagged any issues linked to the sanctions in local licensed boxing activities.
A boxing promotions company once tied to Kinahan, meanwhile, had links with South Africa.
Read more: How global gangs like the Kinahan cartel challenge SA money crime controls
Daily Maverick reported on Wednesday how the Kinahan cartel was suspected of laundering drug money, and dealing in illicit gold, via this country. That may have contributed to South Africa being placed on a global greylist in 2023 over its ineffectiveness in tackling dodgy financial flows, such as terror funding activities.
Next month, the Financial Action Task Force will focus on whether this country should be removed from that list, which could improve its reputation in terms of dealing with money laundering.
Beyond this are lingering suspicions linked to Kinahan that point toward the insidious and expansive nature of organised crime.
While fragments of suspicions about boxing involving Kinahan have been reported in other countries, this is a more comprehensive overview, with a focus on South Africa.
MTK Global
Kinahan was involved in a boxing and events promotions company, MTK Global.
According to US authorities, he was the target of a shooting at a Dublin hotel in 2016 during a weigh-in for an MTK Global boxing match.
He was not wounded. This is how the Kinahan cartel “gained notoriety”.
MTK Global had a division in Africa that began in 2019. This tied it to South Africa – it had a gym here and represented boxers from this country.
But in April 2022, things changed when the US announced sanctions against Kinahan and others, including his father and brother, Christopher senior and junior.
Rewards of up to $5-million were offered for each of them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cckzy_chNup/
MTK Global shut down in 2022 after the US announced the sanctions.
“Since leading promoters have now informed us that they will be severing all ties with MTK and will no longer work with our fighters, we have taken the difficult decision to cease operations,” a statement on its Instagram page said at the time.
It said that Kinahan’s involvement in MTK Global stopped in 2017.
Daily Maverick reported on Wednesday that a US lawyer suspected MTK Global may have been used to launder money. There are also widespread suspicions that Kinahan’s influence in the international boxing industry went far deeper than what had been publicly acknowledged.
Probellum
In 2021, the company Probellum started up.
Its Instagram account described it as “the next generation global boxing promotion and media company”.
Daily Maverick this week confirmed, as reported in the United Kingdom, that the UK’s Intellectual Property Office records showed that Probellum’s trademark was registered by “MTK Global Promotional Management Ltd”, later updated to “Global Promotional Management Ltd”.
There were other suspicions that Kinahan was linked to Probellum.
In March 2022, a Pakistani politician, Rai Taimoor Khan, took to the social media platform X.
He posted: “Met @probellum on aligning vision on boxing for Punjab & how to make this sport bigger for our youth. Looking forward to hosting Daniel in Lahore to discuss Pakistan’s first International fight with foreign world class boxers InshAllah. Will share more info in the upcoming weeks.”
Accompanying the post were photographs showing Khan with Kinahan.
Met @probellum on aligning vision on boxing for Punjab & how to make this sport bigger for our youth. Looking forward to hosting Daniel in Lahore to discuss Pakistan’s first International fight with foreign world class boxers InshAllah. Will share more info in the upcoming weeks pic.twitter.com/DeFkwXgWdN
— Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti (@RaiTaimoorB) March 20, 2022
That same month, March 2022, World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman visited Dubai, where he saw some of MTK’s work and met Kinahan “during Probellum fight night”.
Sulaiman, in a blog-style piece published on the council’s website, described Kinahan as “a manager of boxers” who had been labelled as “a person linked to criminal groups”.
He added that he had “fascinating” talks with Kinahan, “confirmed by the testimonies of many boxers, who express their admiration and gratitude for the unconditional support he has given them”.
A month later, Sulaiman, in an updated post a week after the Kinahans were sanctioned and MTK Global announced its closure, backtracked on his words about meeting Kinahan, saying: “I made an innocent mistake, due to absolute ignorance of the situation.”
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kinah.jpg "(From left) World Boxing Council head Mauricio Sulaiman, with promoter Ahmet Ohner and Daniel Kinahan in March 2022. The US sanctioned Kinahan the following month. (Photo: World Boxing Council website)")
Around the same time, in April 2022, the BBC reported that Probellum president Richard Schaefer had denied any links between MTK and Probellum.
He also said Probellum would not promote fighters who had business relationships with Kinahan.
Schaefer, in response to Khan’s post on X, also told the BBC that Khan had met a Probellum executive, separately from meeting Kinahan.
The post, Schaefer said, was “misleading”. He added that Probellum had asked for it to be removed.
As of September 2025, the post remained on X.
Schaefer later moved on from Probellum, which seemed to fizzle out after the Kinahan suspicions surfaced.
Last week, the Ring Magazine website ran an article about Schaefer’s latest boxing stint and quoted him, with reference to Probellum, as saying: “Like every promoter in the world, we were working with Daniel Kinahan… Then the shit hit the fan and the whole thing fell apart.”
Disrupted
Meanwhile, in early 2023, after MTK Global closed and Probellum was in the spotlight over Kinahan suspicions, another company surfaced in the UK – Disrupt Promotions, initially registered as DZrupt Promotions.
This country was directly linked to this. A statement on the Disrupt Promotions website said: “Formed by a group of prominent businessmen from the UK and South Africa, Disrupt Promotions aims to build a global brand which fighters, sponsors and media outlets want to be associated with.”
The businessmen were not named.
We are hugely excited to announce the launch of Disrupt Promotions, a global sports company aiming to change the face of boxing, ensure the biggest fights are made and support the sport’s grassroots.
Full Details: https://t.co/vmzewunu2V#DisruptPromotions #Boxing #boxingnews pic.twitter.com/z1oR2nHZP0
— Disrupt Promotions (@disruptboxing) February 14, 2023
However, its interim chief executive officer was identified as Nick Link, described as a “serial entrepreneur” on a website of another business he heads.
According to UK company records, he is South African and British.
Suspicions did the rounds that Disrupt Promotions could be another iteration of MTK Global and that it was linked to Kinahan, via Probellum.
In February 2023, TimesLive even reported that the UK and South African businessmen behind Disrupt Promotions “are believed to have bought out MTK’s Probellum”.
Disrupt Promotions eventually went quiet, with a press release last posted to its website in April last year.
This week Link, responding to Daily Maverick questions, explained that he acquired assets from a UK sports entrepreneur who wanted to exit the boxing industry for the same reasons that later saw Link himself leave.
‘Nothing to do with Kinahans’
“It was nothing to do with Kinahans or any legacy,” he said.
“Naturally, I faced some headwind with perception of the past MTK, which probably interfered with some broadcasting rights, but it’s hard to say exactly.”
Link effectively described the boxing industry as a minefield.
“I have never been involved in anything so political, entangled and messy,” he said.
“People’s personal agendas seem to all supersede the good and development of the sport globally.
“The personalities, power and money behind boxing seems to dictate… what’s potentially best for the sport and fighters and spectators themselves.”
"They always want content, and they want it now at their fingertips" - Meet @NicolasLink, Founder & Interim CEO of Disrupt Promotions.
WATCH IN FULL: https://t.co/cUb1FjBTll#DisruptPromotions #NicolasLink #BoxingNews #CEO pic.twitter.com/28Zf85Lx94
— Disrupt Promotions (@disruptboxing) February 16, 2023
Link said various characters previously played a role in influencing boxing, and he believed the arena would shift from that over the next decade.
“There are a handful of people at the top pulling the strings with a chokehold on the entire sport, and that makes it very difficult for a sport to develop,” he said.
Daily Maverick put it to Link that some boxing promotion businesses were launched, but then seemed to become inactive.
He agreed: “A number of companies that start in boxing… can’t get off the ground.”
‘White collar boxing’
All that aside, Kinahan is still wanted over drug trafficking and money laundering accusations, and suspicions remain about his involvement in boxing.
His name has cropped up in a court case that began to develop in the US earlier this year.
A boxing agent, William “Billy” Kean, claimed in the matter that an “under the table” deal involving millions of dollars and a global fight promoter had previously been struck with Kinahan.
That case, which, based on court filings is still in progress, may shed more light on international boxing matters surrounding Kinahan.
As for Boxing South Africa, it has been through a tumultuous time, involving finances and past problems with its board.
A presentation to Parliament earlier this year said challenges it faced included a lack of sponsorship, a litigious environment largely due to promoters, “reputational issues” and a “trust deficit”.
Boxing SA had measures in place to try to regulate the industry.
Its response to Daily Maverick questions on Monday said: “Any boxing event promotion company that seeks to host a professional boxing tournament in South Africa needs to be licensed with Boxing South Africa and such tournament itself, also need(s) to be sanctioned by Boxing South Africa…
“A company which is not licensed… yet hosts professional boxing tournaments and bouts, is engaging in… what is referred [as] ‘White Collar Boxing’ and that is illegal.” DM