By Terence Dooley
As reported earlier on BoxingScene, promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom is working hard on nailing down Carl Froch’s next fight. Froch, 33-2 (24), has a mandatory defence of his IBF title against James DeGale on the horizon, but there is also talk of a third meeting with Mikkel Kessler. Either way, Hearn has pencilled in a January 31 date at London’s O2 Arena for “The Cobra”.
DeGale won the right to fight for the title by beating Brandon Gonzales via fourth-round TKO on the undercard of Froch’s eighth-round KO win over George Groves in May. “Chunky” has insisted that he is good enough to fight his promotional teammate and has a warm-up bout scheduled for the undercard of Nathan Cleverly’s rematch with Tony Bellew at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on November 22.
DeGale, 19-1 (13), will no doubt want to tread carefully that night, especially as IBF Rule 5.C. states that he will be stripped of his mandatory status if he loses, a position that their Championship Chairman Lindsey E. Tucker reiterated to BoxingScene earlier. Indeed, it will be DeGale’s last chance of sharpening up ahead of what could be the biggest fight of his life as the Londoner will be unable to fight after December 30th due to Rule 5.C., which states that a fighter cannot fight within 60-days of their mandatory shot. Froch is due to receive notice of his mandatory requirement on December 31, with the bout itself due no later than February 28.
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