VASILIY LOMACHENKO underwent shoulder surgery on Monday following his loss to Teofimo Lopez.
The star was dethroned as lightweight champion courtesy of points on Saturday – but his father did not even want him to compete.
Lomachenko has previously had right shoulder surgery in May 2018.
And his manager Egis Klimas claims a pre-existing ailment and an injury he suffered in the second round in Las Vegas have forced him to go under the knife again.
Lomachenko’s cautious start to the fight allowed Lopez to build up a significant lead on the judges’ scorecards, eventually losing his WBC, WBO and WBA titles.
Klimas explained: “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.
“We took him right away to Dr ElAttrache to examine him.”
Lomachenko, who has dropped to seventh in Ring Magazine’s latest P4P rankings, was given an injection six weeks before the fight, alerting both the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Klimas said: “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.”
After the pain flared up again a few weeks later, the Ukrainian received another injection, but Klimas said his father and trainer, Anatoly, ‘wanted out of the fight’.
Klimas added: “We didn’t want to look like we were looking for excuses or something.
“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?”
However, Lopez was not convinced by the claims of Klimas regarding Lomachenko’s pre-fight injury.
He said: “I was coming into this fight injured as well, if you want to talk about injuries, but I didn’t make excuses.
“As someone who was considered the #1 P4P best boxer in the whole world, to use that excuse, it just looks more bad on him than anything else.”
