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Sport

01st Apr 2018

Everyone had the same thought about the referee during Anthony Joshua’s victory over Joseph Parker

Very frustrating

Robert Redmond

It wasn’t pretty, but Anthony Joshua managed to record a victory over Joseph Parker on Saturday night in their heavyweight bout at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Joshua beat the New Zealander in their heavyweight unification bout and is now the IBF, WBA, IBO and WBO champion. However, at times it was a slog, and there were no fireworks in the fight.

The British fighter took the early rounds, which were very cagey, before Parker came back into the bout, landing some shots and troubling his opponent.

Joshua regained the initiative in the final rounds, but he was taken to the judges’ scorecards for the first time in his professional career, where he was awarded the win.

The fight never burst into life, and it wasn’t helped by the referee, Giuseppe Quartarone.

Quartarone was extremely fussy throughout, regularly stepping between the two fighters just as they were about to exchange punches.

It was frustrating to watch, and didn’t help the bout as a spectacle.

He also annoyed a lot of people watching at home, with some comparing Quartarone’s performance with that of Premier League referee Mike Dean.

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