The organisation initially refused to back Cleverly's fourth defence of the title against their fourth-ranked challenger.

However, promoter Frank Warren has resolved the situation with the governing body with the fight going ahead as planned.

The winner must take on the mandatory challenger within 120 days, with Bernard Hopkins being lined up as Cleverly's next opponent if the veteran comes through his clash with Chad Dawson on the same night.

The news did not impress former Cleverly victim Tony Bellew, who says his British light-heavyweight title fight with Danny McIntosh on April 13 represents a sterner test.

"I'm the one coming off the loss, but I'm fighting a better opponent than him," said Bellew, who went down to Cleverly in a courageous points loss in October.

"Anyone in the game knows that a former European champion is a threat and McIntosh is a good boxer because his credentials don't lie. Cleverly beat McIntosh three years ago but they were both novices then and they have both come on miles since then.

"I'm fighting the best version of McIntosh, he's got more experience now and he's travelled away from home to win the title, stopping Thierry Karl in his backyard. He's got a lot of ambition and a lot left to offer, and I'm not in the game to knock over jobsworths.

"If I'd won the Cleverly fight, I would not have been fighting Tommy Karpency (Cleverly's last opponent). He's a tough guy and I've got lots of respect for that, but I wouldn't want to kill myself in training camps to beat some guy up who is just going to put his hands in front of his head for 12 rounds."