American boxer Deontay Wilder has boasted that his win two weeks before Anthony Joshua lost his heavyweight titles to Andy Ruiz Jr. was put the British boxing star under great pressure and caused him to get beaten by the Mexican-American boxer in June.

Joshua’s loss to Ruiz Jr. on June 1 was his first in the 29-year-old’s professional career, with the bout seeing the British-Nigerian getting knocked down four times before the referee finally brought the fight to an end in the seventh round.

It was Joshua’s first fight in the United States and in the aftermath of his defeat, the 29-year-old’s preparations for the fight came under scrutiny.

But Wilder claims his first-round KO win against Dominic Breazeale just two weeks before put too much pressure on Joshua to deliver against Ruiz.

“It’s like I tweeted before, they kept Joshua away from me because of that fact. They knew that the result that was going to happen. But probably a little earlier than that [seventh round TKO against Ruiz Jr.],” Wilder told World Boxing News.

He added: “We all knew this would happen, but that’s boxing. [Anthony Joshua] had a lot of pressure on him coming to America for one, and then he was worrying about me and what I did in my performance [against Dominic Breazeale].”

Wilder went on to say: “All that stuff weighs in on you. He was panicking in the dressing room and I understand all that stuff, it’ll get you. Certain things, you want to perform and do great. Nobody never wants to lose.”

He continued: We want to do great, but when we got so much on you and so much pressure, talking about the sparring guys dropping him in sparring and stuff, it’s a lot.”

The American boxer added: “When your time comes I understand he just froze at the moment of time. But we’ll see whether he can redeem himself in the second fight.”

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