By Osman Rodriguez

According to the World Boxing Council, their Board of Governors voted to approve making WBC super middleweight world champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13KOs) the “Champion in Recess” until he recovers from a broken hand and is ready to resume his career.

The Board of Governors has also sanctioned a fight between No. 1 ranked Anthony Dirrell (24-0, 21KOs) and No. 3 ranked Nikola Sjekloca (24-0, 7KOs) for the WBC super middleweight world championship.

Dirrell was the mandatory challenger, but Ward had little to no interest in the fight for monetary reasons. Sjekloca's biggest win came against Khoren Gevor last July.