Anthony Joshua will exercise the rematch clause that will allow him to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the second time.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearns made this known while speaking to the media after his unanimous defeat to the Ukrainian on Saturday.
Usyk beats Joshua via unanimous decision, becomes new WBA, WBO, IBF champion at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium on Saturday.
The scorecards reads :117-112; 116-112 and 115-113 all in favour of the new champion, Oleksandr Usyk who stretched his unbeaten record to 19.
“It’s straight back into the fire and he will want to go straight back into that rematch. He will be an underdog in the rematch this time after that tonight, but that’s what he does.” Hearns said.
“He immediately returned to the dressing room to receive medical attention.
“It was a tough fight, a gruelling fight,” said Hearn.
“He’s not quite talking the way you would expect him to talk at the moment. Devastated. He’s already talking about training again.
“They want to look at the eye socket. He says it’s fine, but a devastating defeat.
“Obviously congratulations to Oleksandr Usyk. What a fighter. He put in a great performance tonight and the better man won.”
Joshua suffered a swelling under his right eye during the closing stages of the fight, with Usyk nearly forcing a stoppage in the final round.