Since the days of Frankie Carbo and beyond,  the sport of boxing has been intrinsically linked to the seedy underbelly of the criminal world. While fight fans have long wished that the era of criminal involvement in prizefighting was firmly footed in the past, corruption and crime has once again reared its head. 

Last Friday, in Dublin, the weigh-ins of the Frank Warren promoted event were interrupted by a group of men dressed in swat team attire, but it soon became apparent that the men draped in Gardai gear weren't there to uphold piece,  they were there to kill.  

As the sound of AK-47 fire echoed throughout the Regency hotel, the crowd in attendance attempted to evacuate, but not everyone was successful. One man, David Byrne was killed immediately.  Startling footage shows the moment when the gun men entered the hotel:



Hundreds of people had amassed to see Antonio Joao Benton and Jamie Kavanagh make weight for their WBO European title bout and when the incident was first reported it was feared the death toll would be higher, but in the below video (warning, the video is graphic), gunmen seemed to have a set target firm in their sights. 


One might hope that this incident would be a one off,  but as the dust began to settle on the incident it became apparent that this wasn't an isolated incident and Irish boxing may be amid a gang turf war. The story of what transpired in the Regency can be traced back to an earlier, but equally sinister event that happened in Marbella, Spain, during the summer of 2014.

Light heavyweight scrapper, Jamie Moore, was in the holiday resort of Marbella, training with Matthew Macklin, a former title challenger, when he was the victim of one of the most brutal attacks in recent memory.

On the morning of August 3rd, 2014. Jamie Moore, who was staying at Daniel Kinahan, an alleged Irish gangster’s house was cornered by masked assailants who shot the talented boxer in both legs multiple times. The organization of the assault lead many to believe that this was a well orchestrated hit, but the motive remained unclear. Less than a month later,  another gruesome attack went down in Marbella, this time the target was an alleged enforcer of a the Kinahan gang, Gerard Kavanagh, who unlike Moore, was killed immediately. What would follow would be the beginning of an Irish turf war.


Just over 1 year after the Marbella incident, more blood was spilled on Spanish soil. In an apparent reprisal for the death of Kavanagh, the Kinahan family allegedly ordered a hit on rival mob boss, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch’s nephew, Gary.  Gary was shot and killed by masked gunmen while trying to run away. This murder put the two most feared families in Ireland at war and allegedly the first act of reprisal from the Hutch’s was last week's weigh-in shooting, which had meant to target members of the Kinahan family who were in attendance.

The Kinahan family have amassed a net worth of over £1 billion, the head of the family, Christie, deals primarily in property, but his son, Daniel is a boxing coach who has reportedly funded a number of major gyms across Europe and has developed a close relationship with Matthew Macklin, who owns MGM gym in Marbella and famously fought Gennady Golovkin back in 2013.

Since last week’s weigh-in murder there has been more retaliatory acts, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch’s brother was murdered 2 days ago and the streets of Dublin are stricken with fear. It is unclear how this spate of violent crime will affect the MGM gym and the European boxing scene.

Antonio Joao Benton and Jamie Kavanagh are still expected to compete for the WBO European title at an undecided location later this year.