Lowestoft boxing star Anthony Ogogo has undergone surgery to relieve pain in his Achilles tendons.
The 25-year-old, who won a middleweight bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, underwent surgery at The Princess Grace Hospital in London yesterday.
The procedure has not affected an upcoming fight but Ogogo revealed he needed to have the surgery as it was preventing him from running in training for fights.
'I'm getting quite a unique and innovative surgery done that has never been performed on a boxer before' Ogogo explained, writing in his blog at anthonyogogo.com.
'A first I'd rather not have, but a first nonetheless. Basically for four years I've been plagued with Achilles pain, bilateral (both Achilles). It's agony. Anybody that has had Achilles pain would no doubt agree.
'Chronic bilateral Achilles pain which has plagued an athlete over a long time is, well just terrible. Particularly in a sport like boxing where you're constantly on your toes, floating around the ring, your feet are imperative. You need them to dash in and out of range at great speed. With bad Achilles it doesn't enable you to do this.'
Ogogo later added on Twitter that the surgery had gone well, although his trip home was held up after his friend ran out of petrol.
But the Golden Boy Promotions fighter said the surgery was badly-needed though, continuing: 'I've had to be careful with my fight schedule and it's meant I haven't been able to be as active as I'd have liked.
'I've had to pull out of a couple of fights, most notably the highest grossing card of all time when Floyd Mayweather beat the Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in Las Vegas in September of last year.
'That was gutting for me having to miss that, however I stayed positive and got my Vegas opportunity winning with a spectacular third round TKO on the undercard of Mayweather's last fight in 'Sin City'.
'It's meant that I haven't really been able to run consistently for over a year, I could count the number of times I've ran in 2014 using no more than two hands.
'Running is a big part of a boxer training regime, and something that, anybody who has ever trained with me would concur and say that I'm a good runner, I love to run.
'This doesn't mean that I've just turned up to fights out of shape I've just had to find different modes of cardio, but running is a boxer's bread and butter.
'I've had to change my style somewhat. I've had to slow my feet down as I haven't been able to train my feet to dart around the ring, and be explosive, which was one of my best assets prior to 2010.
It's affected the power of my punch too. Any sports biomechanist, physio or coach will tell you that the punch starts at the foot, travel through the body and your arm just delivers the punch.
'If your foot is compromised then there's no way that'll you'll be able to deliver a blow as heavy as you're physically able to.'
Related links
Winner! Lowestoft boxer Anthony Ogogo wins his first ever Las Vegas fight
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