Anthony Joshua is once again out for revenge.

The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and former two-time unified heavyweight titlist has officially exercised the rematch clause in his contract with Oleksandr Usyk, setting up a second fight with his recent conqueror.

“Today we have officially triggered the rematch (clause) for the Oleksandr Usyk fight which we will see early next spring,” Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s career-long promoter confirmed during a DAZN telecast Saturday evening in Liverpool, England. “Back in the game and looking for him to become a three-time heavyweight world champion.”

Usyk became a two-division champion after soundly outpointing England’s Joshua (24-2, 22KOs) in their terrific WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight title fight September 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Usyk—a former undisputed cruiserweight championship who also claimed a Gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics—won by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 to pull off the upset.

The defeat was the second of Joshua’s career, ending his second tour as a unified heavyweight titlist. His first reign ended following a stunning seventh-round knockout at the hands of Andy Ruiz in their June 2019 title fight, which Joshua avenged via twelve-round decision win six months later in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

Following the win over Ruiz, Joshua was left on the hook to honor back-to-back mandatory title challenges, first with IBF number-one contender Kubrat Pulev and then with Usyk to satisfy a prior ruling from the WBO. Joshua dismantled Pulev inside of nine rounds last December in front a sold-out but Covid-restricted crowd at Wembley’s SSE Arena.

The fight with Usyk came only after Joshua saw plans collapse for a long-discussed undisputed heavyweight championship with WBC/lineal champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21KOs), who—an independent arbitration judge ruled—was contractually bound to a third fight with Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs).

The silver line for Joshua was returning to a capacity crowd in the United Kingdom, where he has served one of the biggest box-office draws in the world. An attendance well north of 65,000 couldn’t will Joshua to victory, however. Usyk delivered a brilliant performance, jumping out to a strong start and closing strong to become a two-division titlist while cementing his pound-for-pound credentials.

“This was a disappointing loss to a pound-for-pound great,” lamented Hearn. “He got it wrong on the night, the strategy was wrong, the execution of the game plan was wrong. But you can’t take away from the brilliance of Oleksandr Usyk.”

The power play by Joshua officially puts to rest any loose chatter of Usyk landing the winner of Fury-Wilder III. The WBC was willing to grant a 30-day period for Saturday’s winner to secure such a fight if it is available, or else remain on the hook to next defend versus whomever prevails in the October 30 WBC interim heavyweight title fight between Dillian Whyte and Otto Wallin.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox