Heavyweight contender Chris Arreola underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow on Monday in Los Angeles, trainer Henry Ramirez told ESPN.com.
On May 10, Arreola challenged Bermane Stiverne for a vacant world title — the belt that Vitali Klitschko relinquished when he retired in December — and got knocked out in the sixth round in Los Angeles in a rematch of a previous decision loss to Stiverne.
Ramirez said the elbow has been bothering Arreola (35-4, 31 KOs), 33, of Riverside, Calif., for the past few years but that it further deteriorated during training camp for the title fight.
The doctor said he couldn’t believe that Chris has been fighting all these years with it, said Ramirez, who was at Kerlan-Jobe Surgery Center with Arreola, who was waiting to be released. He always favored the arm and this camp it was happening almost every sparring session, especially when he got hit on it. It really bothered him in camp. And he hurt it in the fight.
The doctor termed it an arthritic elbow. They did a scope. They cleaned up scar tissue and fragments.
Ramirez said Arreola would not have full motion in the elbow for about a month and then would have stem cell treatment before he being allowed to train again in about eight weeks.
He had a cortisone shot going into the fight, which he got in late April, Ramirez said. But by the time the fight came it had gone away. It’s something he’s been dealing with but it has gotten progressively worse.
Ramirez and promoter Dan Goossen said if all goes well with Arreola’s recovery the plan is to schedule his next fight for sometime in October.
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