Duncan Garner and Simon Dallow replay their nine-year-old wrangle.
A dust-up over pizza on election night nine years ago between TVNZ anchorman Simon Dallow and TV3's Duncan Garner, who was political editor at the time, resumed on Thursday night at the Joseph Parker bout, with Garner calling out the newscaster for a grudge match.
"C'mon mate, I've been asking you for years to get in the ring with me," Garner goaded.
"No thanks. You'll be fighting an old man," 50-year-old Dallow demurred.
But Dallow wasn't so coy in 2005 when the pair were at Ellerslie Racecourse covering the general election. He slapped his media rival across the face over eating all the food he was eating.
"Simon slapped me in the face hard and said, 'Stop eating the pizza!' But he hit me too hard. He crossed the line. It wasn't funny. I smacked him back between the eyes four times as hard," Garner, 40, recalled.
The gentleman of New Zealand media remorsefully remembered too. Dallow posed for this pic with Garner for The Diary re-enacting the fisticuffs, but he wanted to avoid any suggestion he was up for another round.
"No, no, not me. I'm too old for that sort of thing. I wouldn't take on Duncan."
Garner is up for the challenge. "I've had an open invite to Simon for the last nine years to hop in the ring after his election-night face slap went wrong. I'm a midget compared to Dallow. He's obviously an intellectual and TV heavyweight. I'm merely a little guy on the sidelines with a low-level grudge."
Big turnout for Parker
Joseph Parker's heavyweight fight at Henderson's Trusts Arena on Thursday drew a considerably smaller crowd than past boxing events, perhaps illustrating the lack of corporate marketing dollars to purchase tables, and Duco's preference to drive pay-per-view purchases with Sky TV.
A last-minute publicity push on social media using local celebs to plug the $39.95 rate would have helped drive up subscriptions, no doubt.
Nonetheless, there was an impressive celebrity turnout on the night, with politicians, sports stars, broadcasters and TV darlings dressed in their glad rags.
The dress code for those events is peculiarly diverse. Corporate VIPs on the ground floor, who had spent up to $12,000 for a table, go black tie, while those in the stands wear comfy casuals.
Formerly Hon Judith Collins was in shocking pink - the same colour as her cheeks when she was blindsided this week by a journo about losing her "Honourable" title. And she hadn't forgotten, still bemoaning the lack of sensitivity by Prime Minister John Key to forewarn her. But she managed a wry smile. Asked to hand her card over for the business card draw, Crusher chortled: "I can't because it still has my title on it."
Judith Collins with Bill Wilson, QC, at the Parker-Williams fight.
Political counterpart Kelvin Davis was sitting at a nearby table with former heavyweight champ Shane Cameron.
However, his Te Tai Tokerau supporter Winston Peters, whose political power wings were significantly clipped after the election, managed a canny seat right on the ring and in the clutch of Sky TV execs Tony O'Brien and John Fellet. How does he do it?
It was a position to envy. Former TV funnyman Marc Ellis managed a feat of seat jumping for a moment ringside.
Former Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson sat ringside with Sala, Joseph Parker's mother. Wilson is part of Team Parker's management.
The Warriors came in droves, with players Shaun Johnson, Koni Hurrell, Nathan Friend and Manu Vatuvei among the crew, and rugby sevens star DJ Forbes and Chiefs player Tim Nanai Williams too. They went backstage post-fight to congratulate their pal after his win against Sherman Williams and posed for pics, before piling into a stretch Hummer to the after-party.
Also there were actress Teuila Blakely, rapper PNC, Sir Peter Leitch, Willie Jackson, Hayley Holt and Jonah Lomu, who gallantly escorted his brother, John, to the ring for his bout.
Seldom-seen Mick Watson, the former high-flying Warriors boss who now works as a personal trainer, was there with his new girlfriend, Briar, who works for the New Zealand police.
Ruakere new Rachel
Former Shorty St star Shavaughn Ruakere was named yesterday as the new ambassador of Pantene, the hair brand that launched Rachel Hunter in the 90s. The 35-year-old actress, who is home in New Plymouth with her family, will head to Los Angeles again soon for work opportunities. She's also undertaking boxing training, and is keen to get in the ring. Ruakere put up her hand for Fight for Life and organisers looked at matching her up against Mona Dotcom, but scheduling conflicts didn't allow it. Ruakere is being trained by Mick Watson, and the pair are often seen in Victoria Park working out. As for romance, ignore gossipmongers spreading erroneous rumours, says her rep. "Shav is not dating Karl Urban."
Shavaughn Ruakere is the new face of Pantene.
MediaWorks execs battle for survival
How many news executives does it take to run a newsroom? That is the question MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon is querying as the company moves to rationalise its radio and television arms for a new syndicated cross-platform morning show with execs from both sides working alongside for the first time.
While reporters, producers, camera operators and personalities have panicked this week about their future and whether they'll even have a job, MediaWorks managers are on tenterhooks too.
The shakeup is reverberating. There is a lot of highly paid wheat to separate from the chaff.
The battle for survival has intensified.
The super programme, fronted by Paul Henry, is a restructuring exercise. But while the company is eager to emphasise it is not on a redundancy mission just to cut costs, the new show affords the luxury of culling those who don't fit the changing media landscape. Weldon, 47, is a change merchant.
The former Olympic swimmer revived the stock exchange when it was on life support, and is looking for a news operation that can be streamlined.
He'll be asking, for example, if they need three heads of news in the merged newsroom. RadioLive's Mel Jones and Cliff Joiner (who has recently been promoted) will join TV3's deputy director of news Richard Sutherland, who spent five years at NewstalkZB. Management is heaving.
There's been no love lost between RadioLive and TV3 news in the past, and bosses Mark Jennings and Jana Rangooni share little in common. The former is a hard news advocate with 25 years in the role; the latter comes largely from commercial music radio. Mutual respect will need to grow.
RadioLive is relocating from its dingy basement address in Ponsonby's Arthur St to new suites at TV3. Question is: will all the top brass be on the long journey ahead?
Celine Song's new film Materialists has sparked debate among real-life matchmakers.