Eddie Hearn has revealed Anthony Joshua is sulking after his loss to Oleksandr Usyk last month.
Joshua lost his heavyweight titles for the second time in four fights when he was outpointed by Usyk in London.
Usyk agreed to a rematch clause before the fight - despite not being mandatory - with a second fight between the two targeted for February or March of next year.
Joshua admitted after the fight he got his gameplan wrong, with fans baffled that he didn't use his size and strength advantage to overpower Usyk in the ring.
And promoter Hearn said that Joshua is sulking behind the scenes despite putting on a hard shell to the public after his recent loss.
He told talkSPORT : "His humbleness in defeat...I think he feels a responsibility to act like that. It couldn't be further from reality and actually I'd like him to maybe lose some of that humbleness sometimes.
"He says 'Look, I can't expect to be like this when I win then sulk when I lose'. But he's sulking. That's the reality. I've been with him a couple of times. He's fixated with the mistakes he made, he's frustrated, he's disappointed.
"All he can think about is how he can improve. He's always like that anyway. He got the gameplan wrong, he didn't box great. Were his preparations good enough? I think that's something he'll analyse."
The loss dented Joshua's hopes of a fight against domestic rival Tyson Fury, who fights Deontay Wilder for the third time this Saturday night in Las Vegas.
But Joshua isn't giving up on a fight with Fury after his recent loss, stating he would fight the WBC champ without any titles on the line.
Can Joshua bounce back in the rematch with Usyk? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below.
Hearn said Joshua shouldn't be kicking himself for the loss given that some fans rank Usyk as the pound-for-pound No.1 in the sport.
He continued: "People are now saying that Usyk may be pound-for-pound number one, it's either Usyk or Canelo. So you've just lost a decision to a pound-for-pound great. Don't beat yourself up.
"The only frustrating thing is we know he can do so much better and the rematch which he will go into it's a real tough fight, but he wouldn't want it any other way.
"He's a two time heavyweight world champion and now he looks to try and become a three time heavyweight world champion. I think he should be applauded for taking on the challenges of an Usyk because no-one really wants to fight him."
