Gavin Gwynne on MTK fallout, British glory and future hopes

Gwynne, trained by Tony Borg at St Joseph’s in Newport, only joined MTK in January, linking up with Lee Eaton after leaving former manager Chris Sanigar’s stable of fighters.

However, MTK announced this week it would be ceasing operations after prominent names in boxing were urged to cut ties with the management company because of links to Daniel Kinahan.

MTK co-founder Kinahan, who had sanctions imposed on him by the US government last week, is alleged to be the leader of an Irish organised crime gang.

Kinahan, who has always denied any wrongdoing, ended his involvement with MTK in 2017, according to the firm.

“All the MTK boxers had known for a few weeks that it was going to happen, so it didn’t come as a surprise to us,” said Gwynne of the MTK announcement.

“I will still be managed by Lee Eaton (pictured below with Gwynne) and there will be some exciting news in the next couple of weeks with a new promotional deal.”

Despite going into his British title fight with Luke Willis at York Hall aware that MTK’s days were numbered, Gwynne was in no mood to let that derail his chances of making it third time lucky in pursuit of the belt.

After losses to Joe Cordina and James Tennyson, Gwynne got the better of Liverpool’s Willis on points (117-113, 118-110, 115-112) to bring the vacant strap back to Wales.

“It was an unbelievable feeling to win the belt,” he said. “It’s a feeling that you can’t buy.

“Tony’s game plan worked and everything we had planned in the build-up came to fruition.

“He probably played into our hands a lot more than we thought he would.

“We thought he would start fast and try to move me around the ring, but he went toe-to-toe with me and just wilted.

“I thought I won it quite comfortably, by six or seven rounds.”

As for what comes next, the British Boxing Board of Control had ordered the winner of Gwynne-Willis to defend the belt against Newport’s Craig Woodruff, pictured below, within 90 days of last Friday's contest.

While Trelewis’ Gwynne is looking forward to the prospect of an all-Welsh scrap on home soil, he is also eager to challenge for even bigger prizes.

He added: “I don’t know where we stand with what shows are going to be on because of the MTK situation.

“But I’ve got to defend the British within 90 days and I’m more than happy to fight Craig Woodruff.

“It will more than likely happen in Wales and that would be great for the Welsh public.

“I’ve already fought Joe Cordina for the title but that was in London, so a big show in Wales would be brilliant.

“I know Craig well, I’ve sparred with him a bit, and I’d be confident going into the fight, more than I was going into the Luke Willis fight.”

He continued: “I also want to push on and look for bigger titles and bigger names.

“Lee Eaton reckons I can compete with anyone in the world, so I’ll just do my job in the ring and he’ll do his by getting me big fights.

“When I started boxing, I set out to win the Welsh, Commonwealth and British titles and I’ve done that.

“After losing to Tennyson I thought that was it for me, I thought I’d reached my level and I wasn’t going to achieve my dream.

“But I pushed on, dug deep and made that dream come true.”

Gwynne’s fellow Welsh fighters Liam Williams, Jay Harris, Andrew Selby, Jacob Robinson, Kieran Gething, Sean McGoldrick, Ethan George, Rashid Omar and Brandon Scott were also with MTK.

George and Omar are part of the St Joseph’s stable with Gwynne, while Selby, Robinson, Gething and McGoldrick all have connections with the Newport gym.

MTK, founded by Kinahan and former pro Matthew Macklin in 2012, said on Wednesday they would make sure their boxers “are supported to find new partnerships as swiftly as possible”.

A statement read: "As a business we have faced unprecedented levels of unfair scrutiny and criticism since the sanctioning by the US government of Daniel Joseph Kinahan.

"It is a matter of public record that Mr Kinahan's involvement in MTK ceased in 2017, and despite repeated reassurances in this regard, unfounded allegations about his ongoing association with us and our fighters persist.

"Since leading promoters have now informed us that they will be severing all ties with MTK and will no longer work with our fighters, we have taken the difficult decision to cease operations at the end of this month.

"MTK prospered because we always put the long-term interests of our fighters at the heart of what we do.

“Our priority in the weeks ahead will be to ensure that our world-class boxers are supported to find new partnerships as swiftly as possible.

"MTK gyms are operated independently so will remain open for the foreseeable future. Further announcements will be made in due course.

"Thank you to all the fans who have supported us over the last decade."