Deontay Wilder says his elaborate ring-walk costume was responsible for his WBC heavyweight title defeat by Tyson Fury.
The American, 34, said his costume was too heavy.
Britain’s Fury, 31, produced a dominant display to win the title in Las Vegas on Saturday when Wilder’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.
According to Lance Pugmire at The Athletic, Wilder will aim to win back the championship he lost in a third fight between the two heavyweights expected to take place this summer.
“Fury didn’t hurt me at all, but the simple fact is that my uniform was way too heavy for me,” Wilder told Yahoo.
Wilder said the costume, which featured armour, a mask and a crown, weighed at least 40 pounds (18.1kg) and was a tribute to Black History Month.
Fury was carried to the ring on a throne, while also wearing a crown.
“I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight – in the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through,” added Wilder.
“I was only able to put it on [for the first time] the night before but I didn’t think it was going to be that heavy.”
Wilder was taken to hospital after the fight but said he did not suffer a concussion, broken ear drum or broken jaw as had been speculated, but did require stitches to close a cut in his ear.
More blames
Wilder also blamed referee Kenny Bayless while speaking with The Athletic.
The first knockdown scored by Fury appeared to come after a punch landed to the back of the head, which is technically an illegal blow.
Wilder believes the punches to the back of the head happened repeatedly despite pre-fight instructions from Bayless saying any such infractions would lead to point deductions and disqualification.
There was also blame thrown at assistant trainer Mark Breland, who threw in the towel as Wilder was absorbing an increasing amount of punishment during the fight.
Wilder said afterwards that he would have rather “gone out on his shield” than have the towel thrown in.
“I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional,” he said.
“It is not an emotional thing, it’s a principle thing. We’ve talked about this situation many, many years before this even happened.
“I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield.
“So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.”
“I understand he was looking out for me and trying to do what he felt was right, but this is my life and my career and he has to accept my wishes.”
Wilder has 30 days to invoke the rematch clause in his contract in order to try and reclaim the title from Fury, having drawn their first encounter in December 2018.
