As previously reported by BoxingScene.com's Steve Kim, the World Boxing Organization has ordered a mandatory fight between WBO middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders and mandatory challenger David Lemiuex.

According to WBO President Francisco 'Paco' Valcarcel, the two camps have until Thursday, November 9, to reach an agreement - or his organization will order an immediate purse bid.

BoxingScene reported on Sunday that Lemieux's handlers had backed away from a co-featured position as part of the HBO televised card featuring Miguel Cotto in the main event on December 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Lemieux's manager, Camille Estephan, is targeting a return date of December 16 in Canada - but it may not be financially possible to make Saunders leave the UK to fight Lemieux in his backyard.

According to Estephan, HBO is very interested in televising Lemieux's next fight - as long as the opponent is satisfactory, and Saunders would certainly fill the desired criteria.

Golden Boy President Eric Gomez would love to make a deal and stage that contest in December, but everything depends on how long the negotiations will drag out.

Saunders (25-0, 12 KO's) was back in action last month at Copper Box in London, where he won a twelve round unanimous decision over Willie Monroe Jr. It was Saunders' first bout since last December's tough decision win over Artur Akavov. Since defeating Andy Lee for the title in the fall of 2015, Saunders has only been able to make two defenses of his belt.

Lemieux (38-3, 33 KO's) has been out of the ring since May, but he's already seen action twice in 2017. In March, he headlined an HBO televised card and scored a brutal knockout of Curtis Stevens in three rounds. And then he made quick turnaround in May, with a tough ten round unanimous decision over Marco Reyes as part of the HBO pay-per-view undercard to Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.