George Groves has revealed that he sustained a broken jaw during his victory over Fedor Chudinov in Sheffield last weekend.
At the fourth time of asking, Groves became world champion as he stopped the Russian in the sixth round to win the WBA super-middleweight title.
However, after the fight, it was suggested that the 29-year-old had sustained an injury to his jaw, and he has confirmed on social media that he requires an operation.
The injury is likely to see Groves sidelined until the end of the year at the earliest, meaning that a potential unification clash with James DeGale will have to be put on the backburner.
His long-time rival has mandatory obligations with the IBF, but it had been expected that the pair would negotiate a rematch after Groves beat DeGale for the British and Commonwealth titles back in 2011.