Dillian Whyte, a man who’s long sought after a fight with Deontay Wilder, has reacted with scorn at Wilder’s claims his pre-fight entrance outfit affected last Saturday’s contest with Tyson Fury.

According to Whyte, if Wilder’s claims are even accurate, then that decision and error still falls on the former champion’s shoulders. Wilder has gone public over the past few days to say his costume weighed 40-pounds and cost the American’s energy and strength.

In Whyte’s mind, it’s a terrible excuse, and one that is exposing Wilder’s insecurity.

“I keep saying, this guy, whatever crack he is smoking must be real good stuff. Because you’re a grown man. Your outfit, you try it on before the fight. For that kind of outfit, you need at least three, four fittings. You’re telling me, somewhere between those three, four fittings, he didn’t think ‘uh, this is a bit heavy, it might affect my legs.’ He just talks crap. It’s the same weight as a backpack,” Whyte said, speaking to Sky Sports.

“I think in the army, the backpack they carry is 60 or 70 kilos or something and those guys march in a backpack for days and they are half the size of him. It just shows you how much rubbish the guy talks, how deluded he is. How can an outfit wear your legs down? He should do what Tyson done, make someone take him to the ring.”

As of now, Fury looks likely to rematch Wilder later on this year, but both men present options that Whyte would like to do.

“I’m disappointed, but I will still fight the guy,” Whyte said. “I’ve waited so long to fight the guy. I’ve been chasing him for so long and he’s such a coward.

“He didn’t want to give me the shot when he was champion, so he might give me a shot now he’s not champion. It is disappointing, because Tyson Fury did what I’ve been saying I could do to him and did it, not exactly the way I would have done it, because I’d have knocked him out. If I’d had him hurt, I would have had a proper shootout with him, and I would have knocked him out. Tyson stopped him in good fashion on his feet, but I would have stopped him on the floor.”