Matt Korobov opting for rehab over surgery with rotator cuff injury

Veteran middleweight Matt Korobov will attempt to avoid surgery on his torn left rotator cuff for the time being, with ESPN reporting that the 37-year-old Russian will opt for rehab on the shoulder.

Korobov (28-3-1, 14 KO) last fought on Dec. 7, when he faced Chris Eubank Jr on a Showtime card. The fight went into only the second round, with Korobov suffering the injury there and unable to continue, handing Eubank a victory in what should have been a pivotal fight for both men, with a shot at the WBC middleweight title held by Jermall Charlo thought to be all but officially up for grabs.

It’s the latest in a string of tough outings for Korobov, a one-time hyped prospect who faded out of the spotlight for a few years before he reemerged as a contender in Dec. 2018, stepping in to face the aforementioned Charlo on short notice and losing a very competitive decision. He followed that with a highly-disputed draw against Immanuwel Aleem in May 2019, a fight where Korobov was originally announced as the winner, but due to a scoring error, it came back a majority draw. In the fight with Eubank, Korobov had won the first round on all three official scorecards.

We’ll have to see what Korobov has when he gets back. The thought is he’ll be out at least four months or so, and even then there’s no guarantee of the shoulder holding up for him to compete at a high level, not to mention the fact he’s not getting any younger.