Deontay Wilder: Anthony Joshua’s team are to blame for Briton’s ‘meltdown’

Deontay Wilder has said Anthony Joshua’s team are to blame for the Briton’s ‘meltdown’ after a second straight loss to Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk outpointed Joshua in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, 11 months after earning his first decision win against “AJ”. The first of those victories saw Usyk take the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles from Joshua, who failed to regain them in the rematch in Jeddah.

After the result was announced on Saturday, Joshua seized a microphone to vent his frustrations in a strange rant that has led to much criticism – and some defence – of the 32-year-old.

“The meltdown comes when you create such a fighter,” former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder told ES News.

“You know, you give them everything, you bring them along, you try to avoid all the tough fights and stuff like that.

“Then when it boils down to the wire and things start going downhill, and [the fighter doesn’t] really know who to trust or believe, [he’s] been listening to all this fake stuff... [he’s] gonna have a meltdown, breakdown.”

Wilder, who is set to face Robert Helenius in October, also suggested that Joshua could have been suffering from a concussion at the time of his post-fight speech – and/or was releasing built-up stress.

“Maybe he’s got [to look after his] mental health; I feel we all have [to],” said the 36-year-old American.

“I advise all fighters to go get MRIs, cat scans, brain scans, because we have things internally going on with us that we may not feel. We can feel great all the time, but when you go get those tests done, the tests [may] say something different...

“The head is not meant to be hit in the first place at all, any doctor will tell you that.”

Wilder last fought in October 2021, suffering a second straight stoppage loss to Tyson Fury.

Wilder and Fury clashed for the first time in December 2018, fighting to a controversial split draw. Briton Fury then earned a TKO victory over the American in their rematch in February 2020, before knocking out Wilder in their trilogy bout.

Prior to those defeats, Wilder was unbeaten as a professional. His second loss to Fury saw the 36-year-old lose the WBC heavyweight belt.