IBF super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch has been ordered to begin negotiations for a mandatory defense against English countryman James DeGale, according to IBF Championships Chairman Lindsey Tucker.

Both Froch and DeGale are promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.

“The letter went out on Dec. 31, 2014,” said Tucker. “They have 30 days to negotiate.”

If a deal is not reached within the 30-day period, a purse bid will be ordered. Tucker said the minimum bid is $100,000, with the breakdown being a 75-to-25 split in favor of Froch, who is 37.

A 2008 Olympic gold medalist and THE RING’s No. 4-rated 168-pounder, DeGale (20-1, 13 knockouts) has won 10 consecutive fights since losing by majority decision to George Groves in May 2011.

In his last fight in November, DeGale dropped and stopped former title challenger Marco Antonio Periban in the third round, representing his third consecutive knockout win, and it happened against a fighter who never had been knocked out. In his previous fight in May, DeGale, 28, knocked out previously undefeated Brandon Gonzales in four rounds in an IBF eliminator for the right to face Froch (33-2, 24 KOs).

THE RING’s No. 1-rated super middleweight and the magazine’s 10th-rated fighter, pound-for-pound, Froch’s past two wins were against previously undefeated Groves in November 2013 and May by ninth and eighth round knockouts.