Anyone with a cursory knowledge of the legal system knows that as long as you declare that someone has never been convicted of a crime, you in turn can never face any repercussions from dealing with them if any government entity decides to take action upon that person.
Wait, that’s not how the world works at all! A lesson that many of those associated with Daniel Kinahan, the sanctioned head of a drug cartel, have now learned as they have been refused entry to the United States. Including Tyson Fury, the WBC Heavyweight Champion.
Fury joined the list back in June of known compatriots from the former MGM Marbella/MTK Global/Global Promotions/Honest We Aren’t Criminals/Pinky Promise management and promotional firm founded by Daniel Kinahan. Such luminaries of the boxing world like Matthew Macklin, Ben Davison and Kugan Cassius have discovered that pandering to a wanted narcoterrorist was probably not the best long-term career choice they could have made.
Fighters like Josh Taylor and Michael Conlan who were signed by Top Rank for the purpose of building them into attractions in the US are also apparently on the list of fighters who can no longer travel to the US.
On the other hand, maybe celebrating a murderous drug cartel leader hasn’t led to much of an impact at all? Given that in the aftermath of Oleksandr Usyk beating Anthony Joshua in the rematch, Frank Warren has already started the push that a showdown between Fury and Usyk should take place in Saudi Arabia because he claims they want to do it as soon as possible and it’s too cold to do it in the UK.
Heaven forbid that they put this fight on in the UK in a covered stadium and perhaps charge the supposed “Greatest boxing fans in world” prices that the average United States boxing fan pays for a premiere event.
Moving the conversation swiftly is designed to avoid the fact that the fight cannot take place in the world’s largest consumer market because of Tyson Fury’s aforementioned inability to travel to the US.
Such is the cowardice of many UK outlets that they will not question this move to hold the fights far away from the shores of the country that put these fighters on the map. Especially not the UK’s largest boxing YouTube channel, IFL TV, which was built up because of their partnership with Daniel Kinahan.
And so the UK boxing scene will go about its business sending more fights to a territory that cares not a whit for boxing but rather is invested in dulling the sensibilities of the public at large who will rationalize their participation in being witness to these events in the same manner as previous generations would go to watch public lynchings. At the end of the day, they’re not the ones on the end of the rope so why should it matter. Right?