A surprising lawsuit filed in California Federal Court alleges that Todd duBoef, President of Top Rank Boxing and stepson of company founder Bob Arum, concealed agreements with an accused crime boss from both ESPN and Arum as part of an alleged scheme to promote coveted Tyson Fury matches.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys representing boxing manager William Keane and obtained by DailyMail, claims duBoef was desperate to secure major events after Top Rank signed a $90 million media rights deal with ESPN in 2017.
According to the filing, duBoef allegedly hid a deal with Daniel Kinahan, an Irish boxing promoter who would later face US Treasury sanctions in 2022. Keane claims he facilitated the arrangement between Top Rank and Kinahan in 2019, making Kinahan the underwriter for Fury’s 2020 rematch with Deontay Wilder. The bout, which resulted in a seventh-round TKO for Fury, reportedly carried a $5 million purse for both competitors.
“[DuBoef] authorized Keane to move forward [with Kinahan], but he admonished Keane that ESPN could not find out that Kinahan was involved,” the filing states. “According to duBoef, the Irish press had reported that Kinahan was the head of a dr*g cartel, and if duBoef were linked to Kinahan, ESPN might be forced to terminate their deal.”
The lawsuit also alleges duBoef made under-the-table payments to Kinahan as an international consultant. Kinahan is currently in Dubai facing possible extradition to Ireland on money laundering charges, according to The Irish Sun. His attorney previously told the BBC that Kinahan has no criminal record and denied claims about his alleged criminal activities.
Notably, the filing indicates that Bob Arum, Muhammad Ali’s former promoter and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, was unaware of his stepson’s alleged arrangement with Kinahan.
“…duBoef told Keane that Arum could not know about the new Kinahan arrangement,” a footnote in the filing reads. “duBoef claimed that Arum was too old and would never understand that he was building a global ‘media company’ and needed Kinahan’s muscle to compete with the UFC and expand in Europe.”
Keane claims Top Rank owes him money and accuses the company of breaching a contract and violating an implied covenant of good faith. ESPN’s contract with Top Rank has since expired without renewal. While Fury has announced his retirement, Top Rank maintains he remains signed for one more event, according to The New York Post.
