Turki with all the trimmings

SAUDI POWER BROKER HELPS SERVE UP A FIGHTING FEAST

- CHRIS MCKENNA 

IT WAS back in January when Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh stood on a balcony at a London event space and took the microphone.

Like the Roman emperor-style ruler he has become of the sport, the chairman of the Middle East country's General Entertainment Authority looked down on those below him and delivered his orders.

Promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn were sat on the top table at a press conference announcing Anthony Joshua's clash with Francis Ngannou, as part of Saudi's latest heavily-financed event, at HERE at Outernet in central London.

They were told by Alalshikh that he wanted a card of five fighters from each of the promoters’ stables pitted against each other in a tournament-style night of boxing in Riyadh.