DEONTAY WILDER found comfort in George Foreman, after Tyson Fury's defeat.
After their controversially decided draw, the Bronze Bomber, 35 years old, was beaten by the British star in a rematch.
Wilder had Foreman as a friend and a confidante. The 72-year-old boxing icon was able to relate to Foreman's shock defeat against Muhammad Ali in the 1974 classic "The Rumble in the Jungle".
American Hall of Famer, Ali was 40-0 when he traveled to Zaire to fight in the eagerly awaited bout. Ali was stunned by him in one of the most famous encounters in boxing.
Foreman stated to SunSport that he still has nightmares about the loss which left him completely "devastated" in 2019.
Wilder also had a similar record, at 42-0-1, with Fury's 32-point draw in December 2018.
"ONLY I UNDERSTAND"
During a TMZ grilling, Foreman said: "I had a pleasant conversation with Wilder. Nice conversation with him.
"We spoke because I was in an unexpectedly bad position with the title in Africa.
"Only I can understand what he is going through.
"He's going to have to learn to live with Fury loss, but I can teach him how to do that and make it better. These were some of the topics we talked about.
Wilder immediately activated his rematch clause in order to guarantee he would get another chance at Fury. Many pundits believed it was a mistake.
Foreman, despite the criticism, insists that Wilder can beat Fury in their third and final fight.
The boxing legend-turned-grill-flogger added: [He can] Not only beat him, [he] can do it easily.
Give him another chance. He will.
Wilder also received advice from Mike Tyson, who encouraged him to rediscover "zest" and "confidence".
They will be fighting again in their trio bout on October 9.
