Joseph Parker's team has hit out at referee Giuseppe Quartarone after the Kiwi heavyweight's unanimous points loss to British superstar Anthony Joshua in Cardiff, saying the Italian "couldn't speak English'.
Parker became the first man to stretch the London Olympic champion (21-0) the full distance but it was scant consolation as Joshua took his WBO title, adding it to his IBF, IBO and WBA belts.
Two of the three judges scored the bout 118-110 and the other 119-109, the widest margin ironically coming from New Zealand's Ian Scott.
But, while not blaming him for the loss, it was referee Quartarone that Team Parker most took issue with at the post-fight press conference.
The Italian stopped the action on several occasions as Parker attempted to find his way into the middle of the ring.
"When the ref came to the back, he couldn't speak English," Parker said.
"Kev (trainer Kevin Barry) was trying to talk to him and ask him questions about how he was going to control the fight."
Joshua later denied the claim, saying the two-minute talk was "in perfect English" and his social media channels would show that.
"Obviously when one guy's got the 76-inch reach and the other guy's got 84-85 it's very important to us when we do close the distance that we're able to work," Barry said.
"Unfortunately for us the referee just didn't allow us to do that. I tried to speak to him when he came down the back and he had no idea or understanding of the question I asked him."
Barry conceded that his charge was beaten by a "better, better man" but also took issue with the scoring.
"I thought after six rounds it was our fight to win," he said.
"Joe landed a lot of very good body shots that obviously the judges sitting at ringside tonight didn't score."
Parker (24-1) said there was only one way to move forward from the first loss of his professional career.
"Set up another fight," he said.
"Our whole team has worked hard to get here and deserve a break and some time at home with our families.
"Once that's done, once we're relaxed we want to set up another fight straight away."
2023-10-20 18:26:56
