Floyd Mayweather has paid tribute to Deontay Wilder's sacked coach Mark Breland in what appears to be a sly dig at the 'Bronze Bomber'.
The 35-year-old heavyweight suffered a second consecutive defeat to Tyson Fury in Las Vegas this month.
He had new trainer Malik Scott in his corner having fired Breland after he threw in the towel during Wilder's rematch with Fury last year. Wilder also accused the world champion of spiking his water.
But retired fighter Mayweather has backed Breland and paid tribute to his work on social media since the trilogy battle.
Mayweather posted on Instagram : "Please hit the follow button if you want to follow a humble student, teacher, mentor, and coach in the sport of boxing.
"He has all the credentials and qualifications to support why I recognise him as an elite boxing coach, something that nowadays many unqualified people claim to be, follow Mark Breland."
Wilder was embroiled in an uncomfortable feud with Breland, questioning his loyalty after throwing the towel in the seventh round of the rematch.
And a previously positive relationship continued to turn sour, after Wilder accused his former coach of spiking his water during the fight.
This led to Wilder's dismissal of his coach, before appointing Scott to take over for the delayed trilogy meeting against Fury.
But he also fell short in the trilogy as Wilder was handed his second defeat by a powerful right hand in the penultimate round.
Many thought he may consider retirement from the sport, a suggestion which was later rubbished by his manager Shelly Finkel, although his return will now be delayed after receiving a six-month medical suspension from the ring.
News of his suspension will also give him time to recover from planned surgery on a broken hand injury suffered during the clash.
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Wilder has since pointed out the broken hand injury and early balance issues, as the two key factors in defeat.
"He'll fight sometime in the spring or early summer as long as he's healthy and he's good and he's up to it," Finkel told ESPN. "He's still in pain with the hand and his equilibrium was off, somewhere around the third round (Fury connected behind the ear), that's why his balance wasn't the same.
"He feels he trained so hard and then the two incidents -- no disrespect at all to Fury -- he put in all that effort and wasn't able to fight him healthy."
His opponent Fury is now arguably the most clamoured-for test in the division, and has faced a number of challenges since victory.
The primary title challenge comes from British heavyweight Dillian Whyte, who was declared as the leading contender for Fury's WBC belt.
Although Fury has since hinted at retirement, which could squash any domestic showdown on the Briton's planned return to home soil.
However the 'Gypsy King's' promoter Frank Warren has indicated that he could yet still pursue a shot at Anthony Joshua in the near future.
Wilder is also interested in a fourth fight between the pai r, but this seems highly unlikely after the devastating ending to the trilogy.
