England's Carl Froch has been ordered to give compatriot George Groves a rematch within 90 days or be stripped of his world title by the International Boxing Federation.
Froch claimed on Friday that Groves rejected "a seven-figure sum" for a second chance after their controversial fight in November, which the champion won with a contentious ninth-round stoppage to keep his WBA and IBF belts.
Groves admits he has turned down an offer but is adamant he is as eager as ever to get back into the ring with Froch, and his cause has been helped after the IBF decided the bout was controversial enough to merit an immediate rematch.
Lindsey Tucker, the IBF championships chairman, said: "We have ordered an immediate rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves.
"After a fight our rules say a boxer has 10 days to file an appeal. Groves did that, and at a hearing on January 15 in Newark we had a three-man panel review all of the evidence and they came back with the decision we must order a rematch.
"The 90-day period starts from Friday, January 24 and I'm pretty sure Carl Froch will have already received notification.
"If he fails to defend the belt against Groves within this period it's more than likely he will lose his title."
There is speculation Froch could decide to forfeit his IBF belt and go to Las Vegas to fight former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Junior of Mexico.
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