Vasyl Lomachenko's August Fight Put Off, Lightweight Champion To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

The proposed plan for Vasyl Lomachenko to fight in August is now off as he will be undergoing shoulder surgery this week.

Lomachenko (11-1) made history earlier this month when he defeated Jorge Linares to become the new World Boxing Association lightweight champion. In the process, he became the quickest three-weight world champion in boxing history, requiring just 12 professional fights to accomplish the feat.

Following the win, his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing revealed the plan for the pound-for-pound king now was to fight in Los Angeles on August 25, adding that a title unification clash could happen against World Boxing Organization lightweight champion Ray Beltran (35-7-1).

"Definitely, we’re going to L.A. [Lomachenko] told me August 25 is good. So that’s the date, in L.A.," Arum said before revealing, "Beltran is the obvious opponent."

However, it recently emerged that Lomachenko suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder during his fight with Linares and will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder Wednesday.

"I couldn't use my right arm to throw my right hook, and it was very uncomfortable to continue my fight," Lomachenko told ESPN, mentioning how the injury occurred in the second round against Linares as he popped his shoulder back in the socket.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the 60-90 minute procedure on Lomachenko and following an examination, he revealed there was a significant instability in the 30-year-old's shoulder.

"There is clear evidence that he had a recent dislocation of the shoulder, and the most common injury that happens when there is a dislocation is a tear in the labrum," ElAttrache said. "His is pretty extensive. A typical tear usually goes from about 2 o'clock if you're looking at the face of a clock down to about 6 o'clock. His goes almost all the way around. I would say he has significant instability of his right shoulder."

ElAttrache then gave Lomachenko a timeline for his comeback, stating that if all things go well during the recovery process, he could return to training in October and then compete in early December.

"None of these things are carved in stone. The most important thing is to protect him and allow this to heal properly. With what I'm seeing now that's the timetable if things go perfectly," he added.

Arum mentioned how Lomachenko occasionally suffered from shoulder pain during sparring but this time, the pain was different as an MRI in Ukraine showed the tear before Arum asked for him to get it checked out in Los Angeles.

With the timeline given by ElAttrache, Arum added that Lomachenko could feature in a Dec. 8 card although there are no guarantees at this point.

"Every once in a while when he would spar, he'd have pain in the shoulder but then he'd ice it and then there'd be no problem," Arum explained. "But this time it was different with the pain he was having in the fight and after the fight."

"So, obviously, Aug. 25 is out for his next fight and we're looking at Dec. 8. If the shoulder doesn't come around in time we'll have to postpone it, but we're looking at him being ready to go Dec. 8. But we know there are no guarantees," he added.