REMATCH AT WEMBLEY COULD DELAY FIGHT WITH FURY

ANTHONY JOSHUA is most likely to face a rematch of his titanic world heavyweight championship battle with Wladimir Klitschko for his next contest. If Klitschko decides to box on, the rematch will take precedence this autumn over an all-British Wembley Stadium extravaganza against Tyson Fury. Klitschko, who put in a phenomenal performance for a 41-year-old, holds a rematch clause in his contract. He has gone home to Kiev to consider his future. Before leaving London following his dramatic 11th-round stoppage, Klitschko said: ‘I need to analyse how I managed to lose this fight. ‘I have Anthony tied down to my rematch clause. I will give my situation serious thought and will make a statement in two or three weeks.’ This was the 69th fight of Klitschko’s 21-year pro career, but it was his first for 17 months since his surprise defeat by Fury, and there have been calls for the former champion to retire. But his deliberations will be coloured by two factors. The first is a belief that he should have beaten Joshua. ‘Anthony is on top of the world at the moment and deserves to enjoy it,’ Klitschko said. ‘He is a very good fighter but he has his vulnerabilities. When I knocked him down in the sixth I never believed he would get up. I should have finished it then. ‘I felt so convinced I was now going to win the fight that I thought I could be patient and wait for my chance.’ Second, the ambition still burns in Klitschko to join Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and his elder brother Vitali as the only three-time world heavyweight champions. Fury has been tweeting at Joshua, who responded on Saturday night by telling his fellow Englishman to sort out his life and train down to his fighting weight. A second Joshua-Klitschko fight could also be staged at Wembley Stadium, if promoter Eddie Hearn thinks it would draw another 90,000 instant sell-out. ‘Either that,’ Hearn said, ‘or AJ would be more than happy to go to a stadium in Germany.’ Hearn added: ‘AJ against Fury would be another monster fight for Wembley.’ According to Hearn, Saturday night’s fight, shown on subscription by Sky Sports, has shattered the 1.5million record for pay-per-view on British television.