Kalle Sauerland Talks State Of WBSS Super Middleweight Finals
The World Boxing Super Series super middleweight finals have a number of issues to resolve, mainly who will fight Callum Smith, and Kalle Sauerland has provided an update.
In an interview with Boxing News, Sauerland, one of the main organizers of the tournament, said the situation is still being resolved as George Groves is still recovering from injuries suffered in his semifinal bout against Chris Eubank Jr. Sauerland said the finals will happen no later than July and if Groves is unable to compete in the finals, then Eubank Jr. would likely get the nod to fight in Groves’ place.
“We’re working on solutions where Groves is fit, and where Groves is not fit. We’re not going to postpone finals months because it goes against the whole principal of it. The tournament is bigger than any fighter and that’s just the way it is,” Sauerland said.
The super middleweight finals have been in question since February when Groves revealed he would have surgery. Groves originally said his hope would be that the fight gets moved back to July, but there’s no indication that Groves will recover in time for the fight against Smith. Groves, the WBA “super” super middleweight champion, won his way to the finals with a unanimous decision win over Eubank Jr.
Smith won his semifinal bout against Nieky Holzken by unanimous decision in Germany. Holzken was a last minute replacement after Juergen Braehmer, Smith’s original opponent, went down with influenza the week of the fight. The super middleweight finals was supposed to take place on June 2 at the Manchester Arena. A decision on the state of the finals is to expected to be announced soon.
