Grinning Daniel Kinahan poses with WBC president and controversial German promoter

He met the pair while being hosted at a Probellum boxing event, later writing Kinahan had his “full support.”

Posting a long article about the trip to Dubai and about developing the sport of boxing in the Middle East and Asia, he also included a series of photographs.

The one with Kinahan and Oner is captioned: “Ahmed Oner and Daniel Kanihan [sic] during Probellum fight night.”

The boxing promotion firm, Probellum has declined to make any public comment on what links Kinahan has with the company.

Ahmed Öner, who has referred to Kinahan as a “brother” has a reputation for making threats and has criminal convictions for violence in Germany.

The Sunday World previously reported how he was also shot in the leg in a gun-attack in 2009 which was described at the time as an assassination attempt.

He also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons at a press conference in 2017 before one of Öner’s fighters took on Chris Eubank jr in Germany.

In a bizarre rant he shouted at a member of Eubank’s entourage: "You son of a b****, I f*** your wife in your bed!"

In videos of the press conference which are still on-line he is heard shouting at a member of Eubank’s entourage: "You're a f***ing piece of sh**, a son of a b**** ... you fight me you c***".

He did something similar in 2011 after one of his fighters was beaten by Vitali Klitschko, who is now the Mayor of Kyev.

He told Klitschko’s manager: "Bernd, I swear to you, I'll kill you" and had to be held back by three security men.

In his article published on the World Boxing Council’s website this week Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar gave Kinahan his “full backing.”

He also said the future of boxing is in the Middle East, where he met Kinahan, “a representative and proxy for boxers”.

“The work that Probellum is doing, in coordination with MTK, and Kinahan 's plans could make Dubai one of the great meccas of boxing in the near future.”

He said the Irish gangster was a “character who has been crossed out and labelled as a person linked to criminal groups, thus creating prejudice against a large part of the world boxing community".

Saldivar said he had a “revealing talk with him, confirmed by the testimonies of many boxers, who express their admiration and gratitude for the unconditional support he has given them, which has allowed them to improve their lives in a special way.

"I am nobody to judge any person, and that has been the policy of our organization, to combat all types of discrimination and abuse of power, before any person and group,” he adds.

“That is why Daniel will have our full support in his quest to bring benefits to boxing. "

Mr Saldivar was elected President of the World Boxing Council eight years ago, following the death of his dad, Don José Sulaimán, who led the WBC for 38 years and was considered one of the most powerful men in the sport.

Earlier this week another photograph emerged of Kinahan posing with Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti, the Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Government of Punjab, Pakistan.

The Sunday World reported how Bhatti wrote about his meeting with Kinahan the next day after the Falcon Waseem versus Sunny Edwards fight.

“Met @probellum on aligning vision on boxing for Punjab & how to make this sport bigger for our youth.”

“Looking forward to hosting Daniel in Lahore to discuss Pakistan’s first International fight with foreign world class boxers Inshallah. Will share more info in the upcoming weeks”.

Probellum are a media and boxing promotion firm which has signed up several fighters around the world.

The firm were contacted for comment about Mr Bhatti’s tweet.