On Wednesday, the WBO's World Championship Committee ordered negotiations to begin for a mandatory fight between full middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade and interim-champion Janibek Alimkhnauly.

The two sides were given 30-days to reach an agreement.

If no agreement is reached, then a purse bid will be called with a $200,000 minimum bid.

If Andrade is unable to compete for whatever reason, then Alimkhanuly will be automatically elevated to the status of 'full' champion.

Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) has been out of the ring since demolishing Jason Quigley in two rounds in November of 2021.

He was due to move up to the super middleweight limit to face Zach Parker for the WBO's interim-title on May 21 at Pride Park in Derby, England, but Andrade withdrew a few weeks before the fight with a shoulder injury.

Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs) saw action back on May 21, when he captured the WBO's interim-title with a two round demolition of undefeated contender Danny Dignum.

Andrade's promotional run with Eddie Hearn is no longer in play (the canceled bout with Parker was scheduled as his last with Matchroom). To act on Andrade's behalf, the WBO issued their order to promoter Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions.

Alimkhanuly is promoted by Top Rank, who have an exclusive content deal with ESPN.