Callum Smith will be afforded a voluntary defence of his WBO interim light heavyweight title, after it Wednesday emerged the sanctioning body denied a formal request to face unified WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring champion Dmitry Bivol next.

Three months after his excellent 12-round decision win over then-unbeaten interim titleholder Joshua Buatsi, the Liverpudlian won't be facing the man who topped the same bill against fierce rival Artur Beterbiev in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) contended, through Matchroom Boxing COO and general counsel Shaun Palmer, that his status as interim WBO titlist positioned him as the next mandatory challenger in line for Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs).

Although the logic was acknowledged, they dismissed it citing good cause as the reason with a proposed trilogy on the cards later this year. WBO championship committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas clarified their stance to all involved parties.

"Callum Smith, as WBO Interim Champion, maintains his status as the next in line for a mandatory defence. However, per Section 1 (B)(4), the Committee is empowered to extend the period for discharging a mandatory defence for good cause.

"The Committee finds that the anticipated Bivol/Beterbiev trilogy constitutes good cause to extend the mandatory defense period in the present circumstances. The Committee hereby denies the request to order a mandatory defense by Dmitry Bivol against Callum Smith at this time."

As reported by The Ring's Mike Coppinger last month, Bivol relinquished his undisputed championship status and vacated the WBC title ahead of a proposed David Benavidez purse bid to instead focus efforts on securing a much-anticipated Beterbiev trilogy.

Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), who was ringside in Riyadh to watch the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch, defended the WBC interim title three weeks prior with a UD12 victory over then-unbeaten contender David Morrell. His manager, Sampson Lewkowicz, rejected any notion he would face Smith next despite Eddie Hearn's comments last month to the contrary.

This latest unsuccessful effort from Smith's team all but seals another domestic duel, this time against Anthony Yarde (26-3, 24 KOs) after the latter's 12-round points win in his Lyndon Arthur trilogy on the Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn undercard April 26.

The Ring's Declan Taylor broke the news last week, that Smith-Yarde was in the works for another Matchroom vs. Queensberry 5v5 team-based event in August.

That much was co-signed by Yarde's head trainer, Tunde Ajayi, who told BoxingScene the fight was all but complete after February's result in the Saudi capital.

"All we needed to do was get past Arthur, so there's no more ducking, talking bad about anybody, let's fight. It's the only fight that makes sense. It's a fight I've personally wanted to see for a very long time — two of Britain's best — we will see who really is the number one."