Carl Froch has opted to vacate his IBF super-middleweight crown, clearing the way for James DeGale to fight for the title in the coming months.
DeGale became the mandatory challenger for the IBF strap when he defeated Brandon Gonzales on the undercard of the Froch-Groves re-match at Wembley Stadium.
But Froch, whose last bout was his memorable knockout of Groves last May, had been chasing a lucrative showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Las Vegas on March 28 until an elbow injury scuppered his hopes.
He still hopes to land a mega showdown against former middleweight champion Chavez in the boxingcapital this summer but admitted he could not stand in the way of DeGale, 29, getting his world title chance.
DeGale is expected to fight for the IBF belt at London's O2 Arena on April 25, with American Andre Dirrell his potential opponent.
"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," said Froch.
"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 fighter and I hope he can go out and win that title and who knows, we may even meet later in the year."
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