Joseph Parker's promoter returned a verbal punch at Graham Norton after the British talk show host revisited his "king of pies" joke on the weekend.
Anthony Joshua appeared on The Graham Norton Show last January ahead of his cash against Parker, when Norton brought up an image of the Kiwi boxing star and began mocking his appearance.
"I think that is going to be an easy fight. He's the 'King of Pies'. He must be a world-class athlete, but he doesn't look like one, does he?" Norton said.
Graham Norton revisited his 'king of pies' joke on Saturday. Photo / Getty
On Saturday, Joshua returned to the famous red couch to discuss his unanimous decision victory when the British comedian decided to revisit the topic of Parker's physique.
"I undermined him. We showed a picture of him, and I casually said 'he looks like he's eaten some pie,' because he doesn't look super fit does he?" Norton said.
"You forget the show is shown in other places, one of which is New Zealand. Obviously, he's not training much, he's sitting at home eating pie."
The joke didn't go down well with Parker's promoter David Higgins, who quickly jumped to the boxer's defence.
"Norton was the one with a pie eating problem," Higgins told Stuff.
"I think Graham Norton has been eating too many pies, look at the state of him.
"It is all banter I'm sure, but Graham Norton has probably never watched a boxing match in his life and is just being topical for the sake of his show.
"We don't take Graham seriously at all."
Promoter David Higgins. Photo / Getty
Higgins rubbished the claim that Norton had played a role in Parker's loss to Joshua last year in Cardiff, referring back to the "disgraceful" refereeing and Joshua's reluctance in the ring.
"Joshua fought the most conservative fight of his life and took zero risks. It was a pedestrian spectacle," Higgins said.
"He didn't hurt a hair on Joseph's body, he was unbruised. In a rematch, Joseph would fight with more intent and if we had a neutral ref then Joshua would be knocked to the ground.
"The officiating was disgraceful, Joshua was protected by the referee. Frankly, if Joshua had any dignity at all they would offer us a rematch."
The Parker camp are still on the hunt for a notable next opponent and while Higgins could not confirm who was on the cards, said the fight would likely be held in either New Zealand or the UK.
