Anthony Joshua believes Deontay Wilder could be working on a "master plan" as the American's silence following a high-profile defeat to Tyson Fury continues.
Fury brilliantly dethroned WBC heavyweight champion Wilder with a seventh-round stoppage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in February.
A trilogy fight was supposed to happen before the end of 2020, but Fury claimed this month that the bout will not take place as he has grown weary of waiting for Wilder to fix a date.
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Joshua, who holds the WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight titles, has in the past been frustrated in his own attempts to face Wilder.
The Briton, who recovered from a first career loss to Andy Ruiz Jr to regain the belts last December, is interested to know Wilder's current situation.
"I don't know, so I can't speak on everyone's situation, but just from my humble opinion, after a loss, things change," Joshua, who is preparing to face Kubrat Pulev in December, told Sky Sports News.
"You distance yourself. The world is cruel. You've got to have a thick skin.
"Either he's putting together a master plan - he's in a lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury's every move. Either he's doing that, or he's sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, 'What's going on?'
"One minute you're on top of the world, and the next minute you're not. That's the name of the game we're in."
My focus is the opponent that’s in front of me pic.twitter.com/PisSj0741l
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) October 16, 2020
In the aftermath of his loss to Fury, Wilder's reasons for the defeat were somewhat bizarre, ranging from claiming he was weakened by heavy ring-walk attire to unfounded claims about Fury's gloves, which the Briton denied.
Joshua is keen to hear more from Wilder and wants to see the American back in the ring.
"It's interesting as to say, 'Why hasn't he spoken?' But when he does speak, we'll soon find out. For me to make speculation as to why he hasn't spoken, I can't because only he knows," he added.
"But I can't wait for him to address the reason why the fight isn't going to happen at the end of the year. What happened in the first fight? Why he lost.
"Was it the costume, was it the glove situation? It would be really good to hear the reasons as to why and even better, I hope he does come back, because he's a great asset to the heavyweight division, and like the Dillian situation, I would like to understand how he found the strength to pull himself up."