Dillian Whyte has claimed that Deontay Wilder had a crisis of confidence during his trilogy defeat to Tyson Fury earlier this month.
The 'Bronze Bomber' was beaten for a second time by Fury in Las Vegas which ended the three-fight rivalry between the pair.
And Wilder will now face a regroup ahead of next year when he plans to return to the ring after his recovery from a broken hand injury is complete.
But Whyte was never convinced Wilder could beat Fury and believes the American has "confidence issues" after the shattering first defeat in 2020.
"It was a good performance from Fury but I knew he was going to beat Wilder anyway," Whyte told IFL TV. "Although Wilder did show some improvement but he was still the same erratic guy moving mad.
"To be honest I think he lost all three fights anyway now. He put on about 20 or 40lbs all on his upper body and his legs were even smaller than before so he couldn't even keep his f****** hands up.
"He was a bit more explosive but Wilder has confidence issues, he is a bully fighter. When he's on top he is fine but when someone pushes him back he struggles. And now he has been beaten up three times by Fury, what is he gonna do?
"He is one of them fighters that needs confidence and I know he did well when he knocked down Fury a couple of times. But even then he didn't go after it so it was a strange fight."
Wilder had been linked with retirement in the immediate aftermath of the fight after a second consecutive blemish on his record.
But his manager Shelly Finkel confirmed he has no plans to retire and is targeting a return to the ring in May next year.
And Finkel has also confirmed that a fight with British heavyweight Anthony Joshua could be an option Wilder may explore in 2022.
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“My gut says the big fights. It’s not on the drawing board now, but he would love to get Fury back again," Wilder's co-manager Finkel told SunSport. “But again, it’s early and we have to get through Usyk and Joshua and see a couple of other possibilities.
“It’s a massive fight [Wilder vs Joshua], no matter what happens in the Joshua - Usyk fight. And I’m not sure that Usyk, even with his great skills, will be able to deal with the size of Fury.
“He’s healing and at this point, if everything is OK, after the hand surgery he’ll probably look to enter the ring mid next year, like April or May."
Joshua has confirmed he would be willing to take a fight with Wilder after "politics" got in the way of the pair meeting before the trilogy with Fury began.
Whyte himself is looking to take a shot at Fury next year and is set to finally cash in on his status as WBC mandatory challenger.
