George Groves is currently locked in a battle to get himself fit for the World Super Series super-middleweight final against Callum Smith on July 14.

The 30-year-old sealed his place in the final with a superb victory over Chris Eubank Jr at the Manchester Arena back in February but dislocated his shoulder in the process.

The IBF champion still hasn’t recovered from his injury and now has just over a week to prove his fitness before a final decision is made.

Speculation is rife that Groves could be replaced in the final by none other than Eubank Jr. Juergen Braehmer’s name has also been mentioned over recent days.

However, the majority of boxing fans, it seems, would rather the date of the final was simply pushed back in order to allow Groves to participate.

“There's no decision yet,” the competition’s promoter Kalle Sauerland said earlier this week. “We're waiting for the final (medical) reports. We have different scenarios for different outcomes, and those will be announced in the next 10 days.

"As long as it's within the timelines of the tournament; the tournament won't stop for anyone. We don't put 50 million US dollars into a project and then change the project in one season. I'm looking for solutions for lots of different scenarios, and in the next 10 days we'll know."

Nigel Benn on Eubank Jr replacing Groves

Nigel Benn, who famously had a bitter rivalry with Eubank Jr’s father, was asked about the prospect of the beaten semi-finalist replacing Groves in the final by iFL TV’s Kugan Cassius.

And he hit the nail on the head with his response.

“All the super-middleweights we’ve got, the only person we can bring in is Eubank Jr - ain’t there nobody else?” the 54-year-old said. “Is there only Eubank Jr because he’s been in the competition?

“It’s not really fair. I mean, he got beat hands down. He said he thought it was a close fight… he lost by a country mile and he was swinging like a country mile! You know what I mean?

'He can't be his dad - he's got to be himself'

“Not taking anything away from Junior, he’s so talented, but I think a lot of it was trying to copy his dad. He can’t be his dad! He’s got to be himself. There’s so much of him that we never saw. He can be world champion again - a real world champion.”

Asked if he really believed that, Benn added: “Yeah, if he gets a trainer that he’ll listen to. He’s got to go back to the drawing board.” (Skip to 4:40 in the video...)

It's hard to argue with the points Benn has made here.

Eubank Jr was beaten fair and square by Groves, who should surely be given time to get himself fit for the final.

Should Chris Eubank Jr be allowed to replace George Groves in the final? Have your say by leaving a comment below.