Klitschko Won't Reveal if He Plans To Execute Rematch Clause

Wladimir Klitschko will not reveal if he intends to execute an immediate rematch clause to face Anthony Joshua last this year.

On Saturday night, in front of a record crowd of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London, Joshua stopped Klitschko in the eleventh round to retain his IBF title and added the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) belts to his collection.

Both fighters were down in the contest. Klitschko went down in the fifth, and then Joshua went down in the sixth, and then Klitschko went down twice in the eleventh before the fight was waved off.

It was Klitschko's first stoppage defeat since Lamon Brewster beat him in 2004 and leaves his record at 64 wins and five defeats.

Klitschko was trying to reclaim three of the four belts he lost to Joshua's fellow Briton Tyson Fury by an upset on points in November 2015. He had not fought since then and entered the ring as the underdog.

The stint of inactivity was created after Fury withdrew from two scheduled rematch dates, and eventually dropped all of his belts due to mental health issues and problems with substance abuse.

Klitschko, 41 years old, has now lost two fights in a row after being undefeated for eleven years. Many are praising his performance against Joshua as being one of the best of his career - even in defeat.

"I’m not going to consider anything, I’m not going to make any statements, I will take my time and let you know," Klitschko said.

"I have a rematch clause in the contract which I can execute. Right now I will not announce anything. I don’t feel like someone who lost. Even though I didn’t get the belts, I definitely gained although I lost."