Extra security for boxing event
By Maurice Garvey
GARDAI will apply a rigorous policing plan at Citywest Hotel on Saturday (February 3) for a boxing event – amid security concerns that it could be targeted by gangland thugs.
The Collision Course boxing event features a number of local fighters, including Tallaght man Sean Creagh, who formerly trained at the MGM gym, co-founded by gangland figure Daniel Kinahan.
None of the boxers on the card at Citywest nor the promotion company SK Promotions have any involvement with crime.
However, gardai say additional security measures are a necessary precaution in the current climate.
Tensions remain high in the city following recent murders of Jason Molyneaux (27) in North Strand on Tuesday night, and his friend Derek Coakley Hutch (27), who was shot in the head as he sat in a car in Clondalkin on January 20.
Boxing bouts have been targeted before. On January 27, two men were shot by a gunman during an underage boxing competition on the South Circular Road – whilst Kinahan associate David Byrne was murdered during the infamous Regency Hotel shooting on February 5, 2016.
Tallaght man Creagh no longer has any ties with Kinahan’s boxing management company, which was targeted by the Hutch gang at the Regency Hotel.
The light welterweight (7-1, 2 KOs), fought at Citywest last November under SK Promotions, which is operated by Stephen Kavanagh, a respected coach at Kilnamanagh Boxing Club.
The eight-fight show at Citywest is Kavanagh’s second promotion.
Also on the card on Saturday, is Tallaght featherweight Liam Gaynor (19), and Ballyfermot boxers Luke Keeler and Stephen Carroll.
Last year, Daniel Kinahan’s business partner Matthew Macklin, who has no involvement in crime, revealed Kinahan was taking a backseat role due to “bad publicity.”
MGM gym underwent a rebranding last year to become known as MTK.
In November, the company said an “external management team completed a Management Buy-In (MBI) of MTK Global” with Macklin remaining in place in an advisory role.
The Echo understands senior gardai have spoken to organisers ahead of the Citywest event, and have prepared an “appropriate policing plan” to counter any potential threats to public safety.
A spokesperson for Citywest Hotel said: “We do not comment on specific events, but always follow the advice of authorities when contacted on any matter related to venue or guest security.”
