Dillian Whyte estimates that he wore a 50-pound outfit into the ring for his victory over Oscar Rivas last July.

It had no negative impact on his performance, which is why Whyte doubts Deontay Wilder’s explanation of how his 45-pound costume weakened his legs during his loss to Tyson Fury. Wilder contends that wearing a bulky, heavy outfit during a long ring walk hurt his performance against Fury, who stopped Wilder in the seventh round of their WBC heavyweight championship rematch February 22 in Las Vegas.

Whyte dismissed Wilder’s rationalization as “rubbish” during a recent appearance on “The Ak And Barak Show.”

“Look at it this way, man – how can he be over 200 pounds, and you’re complaining about [a heavy costume]?,” Whyte stated during a show DAZN and SiriusXM stream Monday through Friday. “Like it’s been on record that my outfit when I went and fought Rivas, it was over 40 pounds. It was like 50 pounds or something, because it had so much Swarovskis in it. And my legs didn’t feel tired when I went to the ring. You know, I’ve been known to wear a few heavy costumes because they put Swarovski crystals in it, which is quite heavy. And it’s all rubbish.

“Deontay Wilder, I remember a video he said, ‘Oh, I train with a 50-pound weight vest on, so when I fight these bigger guys it don’t affect me.’ He was on Joe Rogan’s [podcast], saying it. And there’s videos of him running on the Internet in a 45-pound, 50-pound weight vest. So, he’s just talking rubbish.”

The brash British heavyweight has long been one of Wilder’s harshest critics.

Whyte has been the WBC’s number one heavyweight contender for more than 2½ years, yet he has not received a shot at that title. The longtime London resident didn’t become that sanctioning organization’s mandatory challenger, according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, until he beat Colombia’s Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder July 20 at O2 Arena in London.

“You know, I’ve been saying for a long time Deontay Wilder talks a lot of crap,” Whyte said. “You know? I don’t know. He just couldn’t believe that he lost. Like yo, you’ve just gotta say, ‘Yo listen, he was better than me on the night. You know, I got it wrong. I [had] some problems in camp.’ You know, just don’t talk rubbish about the costume. You make yourself look like an idiot. You know, like you got beat up. You got beat up. Let’s be right. Fury took it to you. You got beat up. It wasn’t nothing to do with your legs. His legs was fine early in the fight. His legs was fine. His legs didn’t start buckling until he got tired. That’s when his legs [went]. And that’s what usually happens. When you get tired, your legs buckle.”

England’s Fury floored Wilder twice, once in the third round and again in the fifth. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped their scheduled 12-round rematch in the seventh round, right after Mark Breland, Wilder’s assistant trainer, threw in the towel at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) is contractually obligated to an immediate third fight with Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The third Fury-Wilder fight has been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has not yet been rescheduled.

Whyte, meanwhile, is supposed to defend his WBC interim title versus Russia’s Alexander Povetkin sometime in August on the grounds of Matchroom Boxing’s headquarters in Brentwood, England. The bout between Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) and Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) has been postponed twice as well. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.