Carl Froch is Expected To Vacate The IBF Crown

By Edward Chaykovsky

According to The Daily Mirror, super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) is going to vacate his IBF world title as early as tomorrow. Froch, who also holds the WBA's "regular" title at the weight, was ordered last year by the International Boxing Federation to fight mandatory challenger James DeGale.

Froch had until the end of January to reach a deal with DeGale. He has no interest in the fight and plans to sit out until a potential June fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who must first overcome Andrzej Fonfara on April 18.

Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport promotes both Froch and DeGale, and anticipated the possibility of this scenario. If Froch vacates as most expect at this point, Hearn would like to match DeGale against IBF #2 Andre Dirrell on April 25th at the O2 Arena.

The Mirror notes that Dirrell's team is not that receptive about facing DeGale in the UK. Dirrell believes he was robbed of a decision win against Froch several years ago in Nottingham in a first round bracket bout of the Super Six tournament.