This won’t come as a shock to most but Eddie Hearn has confirmed that he expects Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko to face off again by the end of the year.

Both men took plaudits for an electrifying performance in front of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in which Joshua rose from a knockdown to stop the former ruler in the eleventh round.

A rematch clause was put into the contract which is thought to be exercised when Klitschko returns from his vacation in Miami.

“I believe Klitschko will go ahead with the rematch so we are looking at dates,” said Hearn

“The Principality Stadium (formerly Millenium Stadium in Cardiff) is not really available in November because of rugby so 28 October is the option. Most of December is available but I don’t really want to go that late.

“Josh has a bit of a sore shoulder, Klitschko has had a tough fight, his face was bashed up. You have got two more weeks in May, all of June and after that they will be thinking ‘right let’s get back in camp’.

“Even if you started back in camp in August, then you have September and October so end of October can work.”

Although Wales remains a front runner for the fight, other possibilities include USA, Asia and the far east in an obvious attempt from the Matchroom Supremo to gain more momentum with the Anthony Joshua brand.

“For Cardiff that date (October) is an option and also December but I don’t really want to go into December so we are looking at the MGM in Las Vegas, China and Dubai as options too,” said the Matchroom boss.