Vasiliy Lomachenko has had surgery on a troublesome right shoulder that his camp believes inhibited him in his surprise defeat to Teofimo Lopez at the weekend.
Despite there being no rematch clause in place, the Ukrainian is pushing for a return fight when the longstanding injury has healed.
Lomachenko previously had surgery on his right shoulder back in May 2018 and manager Egis Klimas said the injury was aggravated in the second round against Lopez on Saturday. The three-weight champion will be fit to resume training in mid-January, according to Klimas.
Six weeks before the Lopez fight, Lomachenko had an injection after notifying the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association and Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“When he arrived to the States to prepare for the fight, he said in the Ukraine he felt the sharp pain in his right shoulder,” Klimas told Steve Kim of ESPN.com. “We took him right away to Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache to examine him.
“We lost one week of training. We lost one week of sparring because the doctor forbid him to do much for a week after the injection.”
Lomachenko’s father and trainer Anatoly had wanted his son to withdraw from the fight, but the Ukrainian threatened to retire if the contest was postponed.
“We didn’t want to look like we were looking for excuses or something,” said Klimas, explaining the Lomachenko camp’s earlier silence on the injury. “If it’s possible, we would like to have the rematch. If they are so tough … are they willing to come back and do that?”
Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank.