Deontay Wilder blames ‘stamina problems’ for Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk

Deontay Wilder believes stamina problems hampered Anthony Joshua during his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.

Joshua delivered an improved performance in Saudi Arabia following his loss to Usyk last year but it wasn’t enough as the Ukrainian retained his heavyweight titles via split decision.

Wilder, who returns to the ring against Finland’s Robert Helenius on October 15, believes Joshua showed a lack of confidence in the build up to the fight and has questioned the 32-year-old’s mentality because he has ‘been given everything’ in his career.

‘Sometimes you just look at both fighters, and sometimes the eye test will tell it all,’ Wilder told ESNews.

‘The body language is telling a story, the way the momentum of a fighter is telling a story, you could look at Usyk and tell how confident he was, how the tables have turned, you could tell he owned it, he feels like who he is.

‘With Joshua you could tell that he wasn’t himself, his usual self of being motivated and secure within himself.

‘You could just easily tell, then from the last fight, you can go off the last fight, certain things that happened, you just had that feeling.

‘We all know Joshua has stamina problems and different things like that. We always felt he’s too big, for certain things he’ll do he’s not getting enough oxygen in his muscles.

‘Like I’ve always said, they’ve given him everything. When you give a man everything and then when it’s time to really bite down on the wire, how far can you go?’

When asked about Joshua’s behaviour in the immediate aftermath of his defeat to Usyk, Wilder said: ‘I think the meltdown comes when you create such a fighter, you give them everything, you create, you bring them along, you try to avoid all the tough fights