James DeGale granted IBF title shot after Carl Froch vacates belt

Carl Froch confirmed he has vacated his IBF super-middleweight title meaning fellow British fighter James DeGale will fight for the belt on April 25th.

Froch had been scheduled to fight mandatory challenger DeGale after an elbow injury forced him to withdraw from his bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Las Vegas. However, Froch announced today that he has relinquished his belt. The IBF have indicated that DeGale will step up to fight for the vacant world title against American Andre Dirrell. https://twitter.com/SkySportsNewsHQ/status/562582085001822208 Froch broke the news earlier today, admitting he was extremely frustrating after pulling out of the Chavez fight.

'It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks with terms agreed for the Chavez fight only for me to be unable to proceed in camp due to injury, I know what it’s like to wait for a shot and I didn’t want to hold James up in fighting for a world title. 'James is a great young fighter and I hope he can go out and win that title and who knows, we may even meet later in the year.'

Negotiations are continuing to get the Chavez Jr bout rescheduled, while veteran Bernard Hopkins has also emerged as another potential opponent for Froch. Hat-tip to Sky Sports