British talk show host Graham Norton is claiming some responsibility for Joseph Parker's defeat to Anthony Joshua last year, thanks to his "King of Pies" comment.
Last January, Joshua - the then IBF, WBA, and IBO champion - appeared on The Graham Norton Show, and the host asked him of his upcoming plans.
Joshua spoke about his plan to win add the WBO (which Parker held at the time) and the WBC belts to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
An image of Parker appeared on the screen, which led to many jokes about the 27-year-old from South Auckland.
"I think that is going to be an easy fight," said Norton. "He's the 'King of Pies'. He must be a world-class athlete, but he doesn't look like one, does he?"
Three months later, Parker lost to Joshua in Cardiff by unanimous decision, meaning the 29-year-old Brit only needs one more belt.
On Saturday (NZ time), Joshua made his first appearance on The Graham Norton Show since the 'King of Pies' episode, and Parker again became a topic of discussion.
Norton asked Joshua how his quest for all five heavyweight belts is going, and Joshua said he's only added one more after beating Parker.
"I played a part in this didn't I?" said Norton. "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? 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.
"He did see the show, but bless him, he tweeted, 'Trust me, I do love my pies.'"
They then began talking about WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder - who holds the belt Joshua desires.
A photo of Wilder appears on the screen, and Norton quickly says how he won't be calling the American any nicknames anytime soon.
"I look at him and say, 'How bad is four? Four is a nice even number. I'm not making any jokes about him, New Zealand pie man - hilarious, but no, nothing here."
Joshua's next fight is scheduled for April 14 at Wembley, but less than three months out, no opponent has yet been confirmed.
The prospect of fighting Wilder though is unlikely as the WBC has ordered a rematch against Tyson Fury after their controversial split-decision draw in December.
That means Joshua is likely to fight fellow Brit Dillian Whyte - who he defeated in 2015 - or American Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller.
But Joshua is desperate to fight Wilder.
"He's [Wilder] got other options in the States that he's interested in fighting, but my view is that I've got four, you've got the last one," he said. Like Lord of the Rings, let's combine them together.
"You can fight in front of the biggest audience, the best UK crowd there is, and fight for the heavyweight championship of the world."
Joshua also spoke about the prospect of fighting Fury one day.
"That would be massive. I'd love to [fight Tyson Fury]. He's another big name for the British public and a fight in Britain.
"The fight Wilder and Fury had I thought Fury won so it would be amazing to have two British heavyweights and we would be combining the belts.
"In the eyes of a lot of people Fury is the champion as such, we're the top three [with Wilder] so I'd love to fight him."
A decision on Joshua's opponent is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
Newsub.
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