Boxing’s worst excuses: Deontay Wilder and Mike Tyson, Wladimirklitschko, Manny Pacquiao & David Haye. These fighters struggled to find acceptance following facing Floyd Mayweather and Tyson Fury.

Many top athletes have difficulty accepting defeat in their sport, and boxers are no exception.

It can be difficult to accept the fact that someone else is better than you in a one-on-one competition.

Over the years, this has led to some rather remarkable post-fight excuses…

Deontay Wilder’s Long List

This one is hard to miss. Following his defeat to Tyson Fury’s stoppage in their 2020 rematch. WilderHis unbeaten record was a result of just about everything that he could think of.

First, the Bronze Bomber said that his ringwalk costume was too heavy. He also claimed that it weakened his legs.

Fury was accused of glove manipulation and he insisted the Gypsy King had eggs weights tucked inside, which left a mark in his head.

Wilder said next that he was given muscle relaxer and fired Mark Breland his assistant trainer, which he believed could be involved.

Finally, he accused Kenny Bayless of unfairly handling the fight.

True, the fight was a rematch of their trio fight. WilderHe did put on a much better performance, but he was eventually KOd and defeated once again. There were no excuses.

George Foreman’s Fake Friend

Foreman, 46 years before Wilder was born, was the hard-hitting heavyweightThe world champion came up with some excuses after he lost his unbeaten record.

Foreman’s 1974 ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ defeat to Muhammad Ali remains one of boxing’s most famous upsets to this day

The American insisted the ring ropes had been loosened to allow Ali to lean away from his punches, suggested he’d eaten eaten poisoned monkey fillet in training camp and added that his water bottle had been spiked.

However, the main bizarre excuse followed in Foreman’s autobiography as he claimed that he’d spotted a friend of his in the crowd cheering for Ali during the fight and this affected his concentration because he saw it as a betrayal.

Foreman reflected years later: “I wish I hadn’t made those excuses because it’s almost like scarring a great name.

“The guy beat me fair and square. He beat me up and I should have allowed him to bathe in his victory instead of coming up with excuses to diminish him.”

Carl Froch’s Volcanic Ash Cloud

When Froch’s unbeaten streak came to an end at the hands of Mikkel Kessler in 2010, the Brit insisted an interruption to his pre-fight preparation had played a big part.

A volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland cancelled several flights at the time, including Froch’s one out to Denmark a week before the bout in his opponent’s homeland.

He made it to the finish via private jet, just three days after the fight.

After Kessler won by unanimous decision, Froch revealed that he’d suffered a perforated eardrum in sparring and also blamed the ash cloud delay.

“There’s nothing more boring than listening to excuses, but I should have been better if that volcano hadn’t put up all that ash in the air,” he said, “My flight was cancelled so I had a barbeque and ate some burgers and fizz pop.”

David Haye’s Broken Toe

After many years of hype and big talk Haye couldn’t make a dent on Wladimirklitschko when they finally met up in 2011.

The highly anticipated clash was played out in the usual fashion for heavyweight title fights of that time. Klitschko won a dominant, but unentertaining, points victory.

The Brit who was beaten claimed that he couldn’t push off on his back foot in order to land his most powerful punches due to a pre-fight injury.

Fans weren’t too happy to learn that it was just a little broken toe.

Haye displayed the injury to the media at post-fight press conference, and was mocked for years.

Mike Tyson’s Broken Back

Unlike most on this list, Tyson’s odd excuse came after a victory.

Following what would turn out to be the final win of his career in 2003, ‘Iron Mike’ explained why he was not at his best despite KOing Clifford Etienne in one round.

Interviewer Jim Gray asked: “Mike were you really sick this week, what was the problem?”

To which Tyson replied: “I broke my back, my back is broken.”

A bemused Gray added: “What do you mean by that? What part? A vertebrae?”

Tyson hilariously just responded: “Spinal.”

He explained years later that he was genuinely suffering with back issues, but was not ‘eloquent’ enough to properly express himself.

Manny Pacquiao’s Shoulder Injury

Pacquiao’s 2015 meeting with Floyd Mayweather remains the richest fight in boxing history to this day.

After much speculation and anticipation, the long-awaited showdown was finally completed.

When the pair finally stepped into the ring together Mayweather nullified Pacquiao and won a unanimous, comfortable decision.

At the post-fight press conference, the Filipino said he’d injured his right shoulder in training and suffered a recurrence during the fourth round.

He later underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, but received little sympathy as he went into boxing’s biggest bout without telling the world he wouldn’t be at 100 per cent.

Alexander Povetkin’s Bad Smell

Povetkin was a high-rated, unbeaten heavyweight in 2012 and charged towards a title fight against Wladimir Klotschko.

Marco Huck was his opponent. He won by majority decision but was disappointed in his performance.

Alexander Zimin, Alexander’s trainer, claimed that Huck was so foul-smelling that it was adversely affecting Povetkin.

Zimin is quoted as saying: “In round five I noticed that Sasha’s eyes became dim. When I asked him what’s wrong, he said that Huck’s body was radiating such bad stinking that it made my fighter’s head go round and round…

“I don’t think that Huck’s body just happened to produce such a powerful stench… I spent many years training fighters in Japan and I must say such methods are quite the norm in the Japanese pro boxing world. People even lost their licenses over such wrongdoings.”

Wladimir Klitscho’s Vaseline

Klitschko suffered three losses in his early career, before he went on to be the heavyweight world champion for almost a decade.

Lamon Brewster beat him against all odds in the third.

Few people could have foreseen Klitschko’s legendary career in heavyweight and everything seemed lost for the Ukrainian.

Klitschko said that Joe Souza, Klitschko’s cornerman, applied too much Vaseline all over his skin. This caused him to stop sweating and clogged his pores.

As a result, Souza’s and Klitschkos’s relationship never ended.