FIVE’LL MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD

RARELY can a five-a-side match claim to have generated so much speculation or captured the imagination in the way pitching Queensberry against Matchroom has.

Of course, this is no little kickabout, more the Fight Game meets the Ryder Cup.

On June 1 in Riyadh, five of our finest will trade blows with five fighters from our promotional rivals Matchroom.

I feel certain it will be a major success. That it hasn’t been done before is mainly due to contractual difficulties and the fact that fighters are aligned to certain networks, but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has removed the barriers to progress.

I believe I have conjured up a winning combination for the 5 vs 5 at the Kingdom Arena with my captain, middleweight star Hamzah Sheeraz (right), leading the way.

The format is one point for a victory and two if the win comes via stoppage.

Should Sheeraz beat the American Ammo Williams, his points contribution will be doubled up. As would be the case in the event of Eddie Hearn’s captain Deontay Wilder managing to overcome our man Zhilei Zhang at heavyweight.

The rest of my team is ferocious featherweight Nick Ball up against WBA world champion Ray Ford, heavyweight powerhouse Daniel Dubois taking on Filip Hrgovic and our lightheavyweight of huge potential Willy Hutchinson facing Craig Richards.

And don’t forget, these five 50-50 fights are not even the main attraction on the night. The headliner is the undisputed lightheavyweight championship of the world decider between undefeated champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.