The eagerly awaited rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves will take place at Wembley Stadium, it has been confirmed.

As the Guardian first revealed on Sunday, Wembley was poised to get the nod for the fight on 31 May, widely recognised as being the biggest British bout for some time, despite Froch, the defending WBA and IBF super-middleweight champion, suggesting last month that it could take place at the City Ground, home of his beloved Nottingham Forest.

"It's brilliant news for many reasons," Groves told Sky Sports News. "This is a huge fight that will take place at an impressive stadium. It's going to be a great night. I can't wait."

Froch said: "It's fantastic because Wembley is massive – talk about making history. Everyone is interested in it [the fight] and it needed to be at a big venue. Nottingham realistically is not big enough."

This will be the first time the new national stadium has hosted a fight, though the old Wembley staged several famous fights, such as Henry Cooper's first meeting with Muhammad Ali, the then Cassius Clay, in 1963. Frank Bruno fought, and lost, to Tim Witherspoon in front of 40,000 people at the old Wembley in 1986, then finally won a heavyweight title there in 1995, with a points decision against Oliver McCall.

"I've never boxed anywhere close to that capacity," added Groves. "It will be great to look back and say I boxed at Wembley Stadium. It will be electric and the fact it's in London, my home city, is another massive bonus. I can't wait to be crowned champion in my home city."

The first fight between Froch and Groves in Manchester last November was a modern-day classic, with the unfancied Groves knocking down Froch in the first round. The 36-year-old recovered, however, and ultimately prevailed in controversial circumstances after the referee, Howard Foster, stopped the contest in the ninth round after Groves had come under a sustained attack for the first time from his more experienced opponent.

Groves was leading on the scorecards of all three judges at ringside when he was stopped and Froch was booed in victory. Both fighters see the rematch as a chance to put the record straight.

"I got off to a slow start last time," said Froch, "but I found a way to win and managed to give George Groves a pasting in round nine. He was never going to see the final bell.

"We're now going to get closure. I'm going to win this fight and I can't wait to put him behind me. It doesn't get any bigger than this."

Tickets for the 31 May rematch go on sale on Monday and promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed he was in negotiations with several venues before opting for the national stadium.

"When I walked out here [Wembley] the first time I remember ringing Carl Froch and George Groves and saying 'this is the place'," he said. "We wanted to make a real statement, and ultimately we needed the seats for a fight of this magnitude. I think we have got the product, not just in the fight but in the sport itself, to fill stadiums like this. When you get an opportunity to do so, you have to grab it with both hands.

"We were talking with the City Ground, the Millennium Stadium, Old Trafford and the Emirates - all fantastic stadiums but this [Wembley] is the one. This is the ultimate, in my opinion – steeped in history – and this is the first fight at the new stadium ... and what a fight."

Hearn expects the main event fight to start around 10pm and said he has already started talking to Transport for London to see how many fans would feasibly be able to attend.

"It will be interesting to see how quickly they [the tickets] go," he said. "At the first fight, 21,000 tickets sold in 12 minutes, so we think this is going to fly and to have this place full up would be something very special."

The rematch will take place less than 24 hours after Wembley hosts England's World Cup warm-up match against Peru, with Hearn admitting the logistics were one of the major sticking points during the negotiations.

But now the deal has been struck, Froch is looking forward to being part of history as he takes part in the first fight at Wembley in 19 years. "What's it going to hold? Potentially 70,000, 80? If we did sell that, that would be phenomenal," he said.