Sky Sports have denied a claim by promoter Eddie Hearn that they had been negotiating with Daniel Kinahan. 

In an interview with IFL TV this week, Matchroom Boxing chairman Hearn said that Kinahan had helped broker deals on behalf of a trio of fighters with the broadcaster.

Following the broadcast of the BBC Panorama documentary Boxing and the Mob earlier this year, Kinahan admitted to Talksport that he was indeed advising fighters.

Tyson Fury had sparked controversy last year by thanking the Dubliner when it appeared a deal had been done to fight Tyson Fury. The matter was even raised in the Dáil.

Kinahan has no criminal convictions but was named in the High Court in 2018 as a senior figure in organised crime on an international scale.

He is currently based in Dubai, but a Garda source recently told The Star, "There is serious work under way to get charges on him.”

Speaking ahead of Matchroom's card at Headingley, Hearn was asked about Hughie Fury [Tyson's cousin], Savannah Marshall and Lewis Ritson - all of whom had left his stable recently.

"Those three in particular [are] managed by MTK," Hearn said, "And I think their advisor Daniel [Kinahan] spoke to us and Sky and, basically, this was a massive opportunity for them."

All three fighters are on a BOXXER bill promoted for Newcastle in October, which will be broadcast by Sky Sports.

However, Sky have distanced themselves from Hearn's comments.

In a statement to The Irish Sun, Sky Sports said, "These claims are untrue.

"As a broadcaster, we are continuing to work only through our promoters to secure fights to air on television."

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