Eddie Hearn has explained Anthony Joshua was forced to get his eye injury checked after defeat to Oleskandr Usyk.
The British heavyweight suffered a demoralising defeat to Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, losing his unified titles in the process.
He also was subject to a brutal onslaught in the final stages, which added further damage to a pre-existing injury from the early rounds.
And Hearn encouraged Joshua to have a medical check-up immediately after, with Joshua reporting his vision was impaired.
"He is absolutely devastated, the reason he left the ring after the fight was that he was completely exhausted," Hearn told IFL TV. "And I wanted him to get his eye injury checked by a doctor.
"But afterwards people thought, 'I don't think you should do the [press conference]' because he was knackered, had a tough fight and seen the doctor.
"But he wanted to do it again, and he went and he puts on a brave face, this is sport you have to come through adversity and stay positive but he was absolutely gutted.
"You may not see that, but all he has thought about since the final bell is getting his belts back and beating Oleskandr Usyk."
Joshua came prepared to outbox his opponent, but Usyk's ring craft and speed enabled him to dominate a host of the exchanges.
And despite the dismay of the defeat, the 31-year-old's focus will now shift to a proposed rematch next year.
But Whyte was a heavy critic of Joshua's approach in the aftermath, branding him a "f****** weirdo" for his stance that continued through the fight.
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He told iFL TV : "I'm still a bit baffled to be honest, it was a bizarre performance from Anthony Joshua. But Usyk fought good.
"I don't know man, I don't know. Joshua is a strange guy, he's a real proper f****** weirdo. Why's he gonna wait to the second fight? He should have been putting the heat on him
"Even at the latter stages, ok you're eight rounds down. You feel like you're down on the scorecards, start having a go. You're the unified heavyweight champion of the world.
"I think Usyk should win by TKO in the last round. I thought they gave Joshua way too much time but he just sagged on the ropes and stood there, he didn't do anything. I thought Usyk deserved a TKO victory. I was surprised the way the fight went, I picked Joshua to win in seven rounds because I thought he would have enforced his size and pressure, sheer bulk and athleticism but he didn't.
"He was just reserved. He was sensitive, a bit like 'I wanna punch I'm not gonna punch, I wanna move my head I'm not gonna move my head', it's weird man. I don't know, it was like the whole Andy Ruiz performance all over again."
Usyk's dominance was reflected in the punch stats, despite calls for an official to resign after he gave the Briton the opening two rounds.
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