by Steve Kim

Perhaps the only downside to Teofimo Lopez's sixth round stoppage of William Silva from this past weekend in New Orleans was that he suffered an injury to his right hand early on in that bout. This afternoon he was in Los Angeles where he visited hand specialist, Dr. George Shin.

According to Lopez (10-0, 8 KO's) he will be returning for surgery on Friday.

"They say I'll be able to fight again by late November, December, so basically instead of two more fights this year, it's one," said the talented 21-year old, who many believe is one of the most talented young boxers in the sport.

When asked if he was in pain, he answered - "Yeah, I mean when they took the soft cast off, you could see the bone sticking out."

He explained later that screws and titanium will be placed in his hand.

"The doctor told me that the chances of injuring my hand again are very low."

The precocious Lopez this will be just a temporary setback.

"I'll be back in the gym after surgery, I can still do stuff like running and working out in the gym but I just can't use my right hand till about October," Lopez said to BoxingScene.com.

Lopez felt that his most recent win sent a strong message to everyone in the weight class.

"I know everything is set up by the jab," said Lopez.

"The jab is the most important punch.  I was playing with his mind.  I was setting him up by letting him get comfortable and then to land the big shot.  I hurt my hands, early in the fight but you prepare yourself for the worst possible. I just put everyone on notice that I'm coming for those world title at 135."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.