James DeGale, Andre Dirrell to go to purse bids

The IBF has revealed that promoter Eddie Hearn has failed to agree a deal with Al Haymon regarding the showdown between James DeGale and Andre Dirrell.

Hearn is hoping to use the IBF title bout as his headliner for his April 25 card at the O2 Arena, a bill that is also scheduled to include Lee Selby's bid to win the IBF featherweight strap against Evgeny Gradovich and Anthony Joshua's heavyweight meeting with Kevin Johnson.

However, with Haymon keen to promote the match in the United States, the location of the fight will now be decided by purse bids on March 10.

DeGale and Dirrell will face each other for the vacant belt after Carl Froch opted against fighting mandatory challenger DeGale.