Last night's BBC Panorama investigation into Daniel Kinahan's role in professional boxing has exposed a mainstream audience to the issue, according to the Sunday World's Nicola Tallant.
Mr Kinahan was the subject of a well-received documentary aired on BBC One last night called 'Boxing and the Mob', which revealed the Dublin native is still working with professional fighters as an advisor, despite distancing himself from involvement last year.
Daniel Kinahan has no previous convictions, but was named in 2018 by a High Court judge as controlling a major international drugs-trafficking network.
The issue of Daniel Kinahan's involvement in boxing became major news in Ireland last summer, when he was publicly named as being the major player in brokering a deal for the super-fight between heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Following intense scrutiny of Kinahan in Ireland, it was later announced that he would be distancing himself from the sport.
However, a statement issued from MTK Global's lawyers to last night's documentary admitted Kinahan is still working with individual fighters.
Lawyers for MTK Global told Panorama: "It is true that Mr Kinahan provides some personal advice to a number of boxers managed by MTK Global and we are instructed that Mr Kinahan also provides such advisory services to boxers who are managed by other worldwide boxing management companies too."
The lawyers also said Kinahan had never owned, controlled or been an employee of MTK Global.
Investigations Editor for the Sunday World Nicola Tallant - who was interviewed as part of last night's documentary - told OTB AM that the mainstream prime-time audience Panorama holds will shine new light on an issue that had not previously been exposed to great lengths outside of Ireland.
"There's no doubt, but Panorama packs a punch like nobody else can in the UK. It is a big, powerful documentary that is months in the making, is heavily financed, and has been able to go right into the heart of this issue, which is: 'Where is Daniel Kinahan when it comes to boxing, and the most important and expensive fight that is due to happen in June, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua?'
"It really is important, I see a lot of the media this morning, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the heavy hitters have all come out and reported on it. Daniel Kinahan is back on the front and back pages of the newspapers in the UK this morning," she says.
Nicola Tallant added that Kinahan's desire to be recognised for his role in the sport have simply brought further attention to himself.
"He has a lot of supporters, and he has lots of supporters in the boxing world, big, big very influential characters in the boxing world supporting him.
"He was obviously working away there in the background getting that Tyson Fury match organised, but he just didn't seem to be able to help himself. He had to step out into the limelight and say, 'I did it!', and it was quite an orchestrated thing when that happened. You can be under no illusion but Tyson Fury didn't talk out of school when he called him out, nor did Bob Arum when he called him out publicly, that was Daniel's arrival into the limelight in the sport. He wanted to be credited for that.
"That's kind of the nature of him. He doesn't always do the sensible thing," Tallant added.
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