Billionaire businessman James Packer and Nine boss David Gyngell insist they are still mates despite being caught having a fist fight.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has won a bidding war for photographs of Packer fighting with his former best man, taken outside the mogul’s Bondi home on Sunday afternoon. They published the photos this afternoon, smothered in “News Corp” watermarks.

In a joint statement issued on Monday the two men said they still respected each other.

“We have been friends for 35 years and still are,” they said.

“In that time we have had our fair share of ups and downs.

“We respect each other and neither of us will be commenting further.”

Bondi resident Chris Walker, who says he witnessed the incident, tweeted about a “massive street fight” outside the Packer home on Sunday afternoon.

He later described the fight on his Facebook page.

“Holy crap, big street fight outside my house … Not thugs, James Packer … And some other angry bloke going toe to toe – total brawl … Wow”.