DEONTAY WILDER has revealed his “beautiful” bond with Eddie Hearn – after years of bitter rivalry.
Wilder and his team have often argued with Hearn over failed negotiations to fight Anthony Joshua.
This led to more than half a decade of mockery, insults and accusations.
But that appears to be resolved after Hearn picked Wilder to represent him in the 5v5 fight series against Frank Warren’s picks.
The former WBC champion – who captains Hearn’s team – faces Zhilei Zhang on June 1 in Saudi Arabia after knocking out their promotional rivalry.
Wilder, 38, said Boxing News: “It’s a beautiful thing. Over years of comings and goings, disagreements and little different things… But life brings change, and change is always good.
“When you look at it, you have to look at the current scenario, and you have some interesting guys like the Saudis who are there, changing everything about boxing: the way we promote it, the way we line up fights and all these different things.
“Why not have the opportunity to work with each other?
“We don’t have to like each other to do business, but sometimes when you’ve been around a person long enough, you understand their customs and they understand your customs and you can coexist with each other. That’s what it’s all about.
“I’m glad we’re at this point where we can coexist with each other, because I’ve always been a promoter’s dream and I think I’m a dream come true for Eddie.
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“I’m happy to be part of Matchroom and [be] The captain.”
Negotiations for Wilder and Joshua to fight began as early as 2018, but conflicting TV and promotional deals prevented the fight from taking place.
What followed were non-stop discussions between the camps until an agreement was finally reached last year.
A fight between Joshua, 34, and Wilder was scheduled for March until disaster struck.
Wilder was defeated by Joseph Parker, 32, and instead, former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, 37, took his place and lost in two rounds to Joshua.
Even on that night, just four months ago, Hearn fumed: “I said in preparation that I don’t rate him. Wilder had no idea, no idea.
“He raised his hand telling the referees that he won the fight. He’s not right. This is the reality.
“It was the most one-sided heavyweight fight I’ve ever seen. It ruined our plans.”
But, in an interview with iFLTVHearn changed his tone and said: “He likes me, we are best friends! But seriously, I’ve always liked Deontay Wilder.
“Obviously we’ve always had a rivalry through AJ, but I was told to sign a heavyweight for the division and I believe Deontay Wilder will bounce back in style.
“I looked at those available and who was the best available? It was Deontay Wilder, and he will knock him out in five rounds.
“I made him my captain and who knows what will happen after that, but we just need to get past Zhilei Zhang.”
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