Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko on Sunday dubbed his latest vanquished opponent, the Briton David Haye, a "sore loser" for blaming Saturday night's defeat on a broken toe.
Haye on Sunday even posted a photograph on Twitter of the toe he argued hampered his abilities in the fight.
"Thanks for everyone who supported my tonight.I Love you all.Sorry I wasn't able to produce the goods.I did my best considering circumstances," the 30-year-old fighter tweeted early Sunday.
Haye tweeted, "Broken toe 3 weeks ago, meant I could shoot right hand like I'm used to. :-("
But Klitschko rejected the excuse, and labelled his opponent a "sore loser."
"It's an excuse. The man has been checked before by a medical commissioner and he was cleared and he was ready to fight. If you are in the ring, there's no excuses," the Ukrainian told Sky News.
"It's called [a] sore loser. And who knows what he has with his toe, a bee stung him or whatever it is. I don't actually care and nobody cares," he added.
Klitschko won the fight convincingly Saturday night. Haye, who had vowed to knock Klitschko out, lost in a unanimous decision in the heavyweight showdown in Hamburg.
Haye said Sunday that he was considering his future in the sport, despite saying he would walk away from boxing in October following his 31st birthday.
"Nobody wants to go out on a loss. It'd be really unfortunate to finish like this," he said.
"If he couldn't knock me out in the condition I am in, then how about when I'm 100 percent?" he added.
With the 12-round victory, Klitschko, 35, added Haye's WBA belt to the IBO, IBF, and WBO heavyweight belts he already possessed, and moved his record to 56-3 with 49 knockouts. Klitschko's brother, Vitali, is the reigning WBC champion.
The wide decision -- 117-109, 118-108, 116-110 -- brought a resounding end to Haye's reign.
The Brit's attempts to unsettle Klitschko -- including a 10-minute delay to his ring entrance -- did not work. If anything, they brought a more determined fighter to the ring and one who has been doing this to bigger, stronger heavyweights for years.
Haye just could not get close. He moved well all night long, largely on the outside, but came up against a champion who in the end, did not need to do anything different.
Despite his convincing win, Klitschko was left dissatisfied. After all the trash talking and mind games in the build-up, the Ukrainian would have liked nothing more than to end the fight with his 50th knockout. He admitted that his dislike for the Londoner would continue.
Haye failed to deliver the big "Hayemaker" he had promised to his fans and only seemed to shake Klitschko in the third round and the 12th.
