Tyson Fury warned to cut ties with alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan

Tyson Fury and other senior figures in boxing have been warned to cut all ties with Irish alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan, whose gang was targeted with fresh sanctions and a $5m bounty by the US government on Tuesday.

The WBC heavyweight champion has previously praised Kinahan, a founder of boxing management company MTK Global, and was photographed with him just weeks ago in Dubai.

But in an extraordinary press conference in Dublin, the US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, revealed that the department of the treasury is now offering a reward of $5m for information that will lead to the “financial destruction” of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOGC) or the arrest and conviction of its leaders.

It came after the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Kinahan and another six of the group’s alleged ringleaders – including his father Christopher Snr and brother Christopher Jnr – banning banks and other companies from doing business with them.

Kinahan, who attempted to make a proposed all-British superfight against Anthony Joshua last year and is involved with several boxers, has become one of the most influential figures in the sport. Recently he also received the “full support” of World Boxing Council president, Mauricio Sulaiman, who praised him for “improving boxers’ lives in a special way”.

However, Irish police commissioner Drew Harris said that anyone in boxing who deals with Kinahan should be in no doubt they were involving themselves with serious criminals.

“What was implicit before, and what some individuals could choose to ignore, is absolutely explicit — if you deal with the individuals who are sanctioned as part of the Kinahan organised crime gang, you are dealing with criminals engaged in drug trafficking,”