Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is his preferred option to stage a rematch of the heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko later this year.
The pair met at London’s Wembley Stadium on April 29, with Joshua winning in the 11th round to claim the WBA and IBO heavyweight titles and retain his IBF belt.
Joshua and Klitschko are set to go head to head once more on November 11 in Las Vegas, Hearn has now stated.
“The venue and the date are the preferred options, with T-Mobile and November 11 pencilled in,” Hearn said, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
He added: “It will probably take a couple of weeks to get this over the line but I believe Klitschko in Vegas is the one.”
A number of possible destinations had been touted for the fight. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium had been suggested, with interest from Dubai and Nigeria also said to have been shown.
The fight is likely to be Klitschko’s last as a professional boxer. The Daily Mail reported that the Ukrainian has turned down a more than £1.5m bonus to fight at the Principality Stadium in favour of going out in style in Las Vegas.
The 20,000-capacity T-Mobile Arena is significantly smaller than Wembley, but the allure of Las Vegas is expected to lead to a much greater television audience.
Hosting the Joshua-Klitschko rematch would represent another feather in the cap for the T-Mobile Arena, which is set to stage next month’s superfight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
The venue, which opened in April 2016, has also staged two of Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez’s fights, and is due to host the highly-anticipated clash between Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin on September 16.
In addition, the arena will serve as the home ground for newly-formed NHL ice hockey franchise the Vegas Golden Knights from the 2017 season.
Image: Tomas Del Coro
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