Thursday 10 May 2018 10:53, UK
George Groves has 10 days to prove he will be fit enough to face Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series final, says Kalle Sauerland.
The super-middleweight No 1 seed is scheduled to take on Liverpool's Smith for the inaugural Muhammad Ali trophy but having suffered a dislocated shoulder injury in his semi-final win over Chris Eubank Jr, the WBA 'Super' world champion faces a race against time to stay in the tournament.
We will stretch as far as we possibly can but the tournament structure will always be precedent. In 10 days we will make an announcement on whether George is in the final or not
With Groves' position in doubt, Comosa's Chief Boxing Officer, Sauerland, confirmed that Eubank Jr is on stand-by to take his place.
"We are waiting for the final discussions and reports from George before we know whether he will be able to make the timeline of the final," Sauerland exclusively told Sky Sports.
"The final will be before the summer break and not after. That's the tournament structure that has been in place since day one.
"We will stretch as far as we possibly can but the tournament structure will always be precedent. In 10 days we will make an announcement on whether George is in the final or not.
"We're looking for all kinds of solution if it isn't possible with George. If we need a replacement then I would look for a solution from within the tournament so Eubank Jr is a name that would come up.
"If it happens outside the tournament, you would say that Smith against Eubank Jr is a great fight."
With season one of the Super Series tournament drawing to a close, the other final featuring cruiserweights Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev - which was also set back due to injury - is still scheduled to go ahead and an announcement on that will also be made in 10 days.
