Deontay Wilder has once again argued that his extravagant ring-walk outfit affected his performance against Tyson Fury last Saturday in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old former WBC champ wore a 40-pound costume, which reportedly cost him around $40,000, in tribute for Black History Month.
And Wilder, who plans to trigger his rematch clause with Fury, pinned the blame from his defeat on the outfit he wore.
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The 'Bronze Bomber' has now doubled down on his comments and claims he could feel the impact of the costume as soon as he took it off.
"Immediately, when I took it off, I felt my legs and I was like, 'Oh, s**t! I done put myself in a situation,'" Wilder told Boxing Scene.
"But I'm a warrior, man. I'm a king and I fight off of my shield. That's how I like to go, on my shield.
"And I just had to accept responsibility that's what it was, and fight from there. You know, many people probably would've made excuses and quit, but nah, no matter what the results was, I wanted to go in there like a warrior, a true king, a man, and go in and fight off my shield."
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Wilder admitted that he tried the outfit on the night before and felt that the 'timing' from the dressing room to the ring walk wouldn't affect him.
But the KO artist argued that he was "walking kinda funny" by the time that he made his way out to the ring.
"I tested it the night before and it felt like it was OK," Wilder explained.
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"But we thought we was gonna be able to time it all from the dressing room to the ring walk. But we was in the dressing room a little bit longer than we timed it.
"And by the time we was going out to the ring walk, you can tell I was walking kinda funny, you know, walking out. But it was a tribute and I was like, 'I'm gonna wear it and see what happens.'
"On the wobbly legs, it was all about survival. So, I didn't get to use what we had worked so hard on and I looked so great doing in camp.
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"I didn't get to use those things because of my mistake that I made at the last minute. But I take full ownership of it, we learn from our mistakes and we carry on."
Wilder was dropped in the third and fifth rounds en route to a seventh-round stoppage defeat against Fury.
The 'Bronze Bomber' has suggested that his legs were "fully gone" in the third round and he "probably would've fell" if Fury had tapped him.
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"By the third round, my legs was fully gone," he admitted. "And then, that's when he started hitting me in the back of the head, knocking my equilibrium off a little bit.
"My legs were so gone that even if he would've tapped me, I probably would've fell. Because you know that body shots and all that doesn't faze me at all.
"Many people could tell that wasn't me up in that ring immediately. But I did it to myself. I totally did it to myself and I wasn't gonna back down. I was still gonna fight like a true warrior and do what I do. You know what I'm saying? Win, lose or draw."
Viral footage from an old interview with Wilder has started to make the rounds on social media after it 'exposed' him over his costume excuse.
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