An important man in making any potential fight between Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua will of course be Joshua’s English promoter Eddie Hearn.

Joshua is the A-Side in the negotiations so Hearn will be the key man in making the fight.

But even Eddie will surely concede that Wilder brings more to the table now after such a big win over Luis Ortiz.

Speaking to Kugan Cassius of IFL TV, Hearn said:

“Fair play to Wilder. He showed heart. He came through. He looked like he was out but he came through.”

He added:

“He proved a lot in that fight. That was his first big test. Much like AJ did against Klitschko.”

He continued to say:

“It’s the biggest fight in world boxing. It’s the fight we want to make. But like Wilder said last night, he believes Parker can beat AJ (on March 31st). So we can’t afford to look past that fight.”

On whether he thinks the Joshua vs Wilder has a chance of actually happening in 2018, Hearn said:

“Yes. Definitely.”

Music to the ears of fight fans.

What a time for the sport of boxing and in particular, the heavyweight division once again.