Chilemba’s hip surgery differed

South Africa-based Malawian boxing icon Isaac ‘Golden Boy’ Chilemba’s hip surgery that was scheduled for last Monday has been differed to next month on doctor’s advice.

However, Chilemba said the other surgery on his right elbow will proceed as planned on December 14 in the United States.

“I had to shelve the hip surgery on doctor’s advice. What happened was that when I made an appointment here [in South Africa] for the hip surgery, I did not inform him that I am supposed to travel to the States for another surgery.

“So, when I went for an MRI scan on Friday for him to determine the actual place where to cut through, I mentioned the elbow surgery that I am supposed to undergo in the States and that’s when he said I cannot travel soon after the surgery because it’s dangerous,” he said in an interview from South Africa yesterday.

The former IBO super-middleweight and WBC international light-heavyweight champion said it was, therefore, agreed with the doctor to shift the hip surgery to January 10 next year.

The 29-year-old boxer said he is scheduled to leave for the US tomorrow.

Chilemba recently told The Nation that he has had the hip problem for four years now.

“At first it was tingling then I started feeling numb. After sometime, I completely lost the feeling on my thigh for about a year.

“Now, it’s burning all the time and sometimes I can’t stand on my leg and at times during training, I have to stop because of the pain,” he said.

Chilemba suffered the right elbow injury last month during his North America Boxing Federation light heavyweight title bout against Aleksandr Gvozdyk which forced him to retire after the eighth of their 10-round bout.