Jeremy Clarkson labels fans of women's boxing 'sexual deviants'

'In any gym, you’ll find a stocky lady sweating buckets as she beats the living daylights out of a punch bag,' says the former Top Gear presenter

In a column for The Sun, the former Top Gear presenter also agreed with Novak Djokovic‘s recent remarks that male tennis players deserved to earn more money than women (PA)

Jeremy Clarkson has labelled fans of women’s boxing “sexual deviants” and claimed the only people who turn up to watch female boxers are their immediate family.

In a column for The Sun titled “It’s no Djok, girls, men bring more cash into tennis”, the former Top Gear presenter agreed with Novak Djokovic‘s recent remarks that men deserved more prize money than their female counterparts for drawing in more viewers.

The tennis sexism row has gained increasing attention in recent weeks, with Serena Williams and Andy Murray supporting equal pay and challenging the validity of Djokovic's arguments.

Drawing on the much debated question of the gender pay gap in tennis, Clarkson used boxing as another example of why female athletes do not deserve to be paid the same amount as men.

“In any gym, you’ll find a stocky lady sweating buckets as she beats the living daylights out of a punch bag. Yet come fight night, she’s going to be lucky to take home £7.50," the 55-year-old said.

“Well, the simple fact of the matter is: The only people who turn up to watch women’s boxing are the immediate families of those taking part. And a few sexual deviants."

Clarkson's remarks come as British boxer Nicola Adams MBE made history as the world’s first ever female boxing champion at the 2012 Olympic and the 2014 Commonwealth games.

The television personality, who was sacked by the BBC last year, also said another problem facing female boxers and female footballers is the fact they have no television rights.

Responding to the recent controversy over Djokovic’s remarks, the Doncaster-born presenter concluded that male tennis players amassed far larger crowds than women.

“But the fact is that more people watch the men’s finals at Wimbledon than the women’s finals. The tickets at Centre Court fetch more too. This means that the men bring more cash to the sport, then have to share it equally with the women,” Clarkson wrote.

“Is that fair? If you think it isn’t, may I suggest you say nothing. Because if you do, you will be hung from a lamppost and pelted with used feminine hygiene products until the end of time,” he added.

Djokovic has since apologised for his comments on equal pay and any offence he may have caused.

This is not the first time Clarkson has stirred controversy for his columns. Most recently he came under fire for arguing that Transgender issues had been overstated, saying “they were called ladyboys, and in my mind they were nothing more than the punchline in a stag night anecdote.”