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Philippines, 01 Jul 2026 |
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LESTER MARTINEZ VS. LUKA PLANTIC ANNOUNCEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES PhilBoxing.com Wed, 01 Jul 2026  “I will be defending my title on August 29. There's no doubt the title is staying in Guatemala… and I'm going to continue being the world champion. That I can assure you.” – Lester Martinez “Yes, I feel I will steal the show. You will see a war. I will show all of you on August 29. We are going to change Guatemala night to Croatia night.” – Luka Plantic LOS ANGELES – June 29, 2026 – WBC interim world super-middleweight champion Lester Martinez and his upcoming title challenger, Luka “The Thunder” Plantic, went face to face for the first time today, at a press conference to officially announce their interim world title showdown on Saturday, August 29, live on ProBoxTV (7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT) from the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Martinez, 20-0-1 (16 KOs), of Guatemala City and Zagreb, Croatia’s Plantic, 13-0 (10 KOs), will meet in the 12-round main event of a card that also features light-heavyweight Najee Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs), taking on dangerous Colombian slugger Juan Carrillo, 15-0 (11 KOs), in the night’s co-featured bout. Also scheduled is an appearance by top-ranked super bantamweight Ramon Cardenas, as well fan-friendly warriors Luis “Koreano” Torres and Weljon Mindoro in separate bouts, plus a full lineup of “Future Stars” series prospects who will be announced shortly. Martinez vs. Plantic is presented by ProBox Promotions. Here is what the main event fighters, their trainers, the co-featured bout fighters and Ramon Cardenas had to say: Lester Martinez First and foremost, good afternoon. Thank you everybody for being here. I will be defending my title on August 29. There's no doubt the title is staying in Guatemala and I'm gonna continue being the world champion. That I can assure you. There was a lot of pressure last time out. There was a lot of pressure winning the belt and performing. There were other things, but we learned from them… there's always room for improvement. Aleem showed good resistance (he was) a very good, strong opponent. But this time around, we're gonna do things much better, trust me. We’re fighting a very dangerous opponent. There’s a reason he’s here. He’s in the top 10. He undefeated and he’s earned that. But we’re going to make the adjustments. Our camp is going to be longer this time. Of course, I'm going to be looking at this fight coming up with Canelo and Mbilli. I'm going to be one of the most interested… (but) right now, my immediate focus is on Luka and taking care of business on August 29, defending my title. Then we can look forward to that tremendous fight and hope that, yes, or yes, we fight the winner. I'm gonna train very hard. I'm gonna do everything I can to make things work, so I can defend my title, and then move on to fight either the rematch (against Mbilli) or the fight against Canelo. I hope that after my fight, my defense, that's the fight that comes next. And we will be more than ready for that fight too. This will be my third time as a main event on ProBoxTV. I'm very grateful for the opportunities the platform has given me. And this is gonna be a great fight. There's gonna be tremendous attendance, and not just our fight. The undercard, as well, is gonna be very good. I don’t care about fighting Jaime Munguia. Luka Plantic I know he’s a good fighter, and we will prepare very good for him. We are looking at his every move, his every punch. I study him. I don't see anything (Martinez does wrong). I only see in the ring, and that's it. I’ll see you in the ring and the belt is coming to Croatia. I’m here for the WBC interim title and to face Canelo next. Yes, I feel I will steal the show. You will see a war. I will show all of you on August 29. We are going to change Guatemala night to Croatia night. I see a great fight. I see great fighters, and I know me. I know everything will be mine. I know I’m going up. This is a 50/50 fight. Thank you for supporting me in Croatia. We are going for the belt, and the belt is coming home. Najee Lopez Every fight now is a tough fight. But this fight lines me up. It gives me a line for a world title, so I'm really excited. (Carrillo is) definitely a good fighter, a smart guy, but I'm just too smart, too fast, too strong. And the question is, will he be able to handle it? There's no pressure at all. I put the work in, my team, we focus. We're super focused. We are super locked in for whatever challenges is in our way. It's just the journey. So, I understand that every fight, from now on, is gonna be on that level. Man, my grandparents is from Puerto Rico, from the island. My dad was my trainer and my teacher. Everything he taught me was from those roots. So, every time I walk in a walk in a ring, not only am I representing where I'm from, Atlanta, Georgia, but I also, when you have the last name Lopez, I'm representing the island. I'm representing my roots. Puerto Rico has to know I love my people. I rep my last name with everything in me. Shout out to ProBox. It's going to be an amazing card. August 29. Be there. Juan Carrillo First of all, I want to thank God. I want to thank ProBox for giving me this opportunity. Yes, I was an Olympian and this opportunity, I'm taking it like the best opportunity in my in my life and my career, and you guys will see. He's playing with my family's food. I am going to go out there and show the world that I am the next big name out there and gonna be the next superstar. I'm very excited. I'm very happy to be part of this event. All the Latinos in this area are going to enjoy a great night of boxing. Everybody come out August 29. You’re going to see a great spectacle. Bob Santos (Juan Carrillo Trainer) I love his ability to fight on all three levels. He can fight on the inside; he can fight at a distance; he can fight at the mid-range. So, what is there not to love? You know, you got a Colombian, Olympian southpaw, and a full-grown man in his prime, so we're expecting a tremendous fight. We know Najee's a tremendous talent, too. The winner is going to be the fans, so we're really excited about that. Marc Farrait (Najee Lopez Trainer) Najee has a great foundation as his father said, you know, when he was here. Najee is a kid that gives everything in the gym, very disciplined outside the ring. Najee is easy to train. As you saw in this last fight, if you train hard, you’re disciplined and you're devoted to the sport, you have outcomes like his last fight. Ramon Cardenas I learned that that I'm built for that level. You know, I never got a third shot in my whole career. I had to work from ground up to make it to where I'm today. And so, I knew when I got that shot, I had to make the best of it and that's what I did. (ProBox has helped me) tremendously, man. For me, personally, ProBox is my home because they're the ones who gave me the shot and without ProBox, I wouldn't be in the same position I am today. So, you know, Paul acts in my home and I'm grateful, you know, turning for them. I don't want to say any names, but I got people ducking and dodging fighting me, you know what I mean? I'm a ‘big risk and small reward’ type of guy. And I like it like that because when I go in and I get my chance, I'm gonna make sure that I make the best of it. But, other than that, you know, I'm just excited for this for this whole card… I know, all the Guatemalan people are gonna, are gonna be there and it's gonna be, it's gonna be a good event. I've never been to the big callout guy. There are people I would love to compete with obviously Junto Nakatani. That's a guy that I like. Everyone else for me, is just... You know what I'm saying? I think if I call out people… I want to call out people who are in front of me, and the only one in front of me in the WBA is Junto. That's the only guy I would like to compete with. In San Antonio, we have the Spurs. The Spurs aren't a big-market team, not anything crazy. They're not the Lakers, not those big market teams, but they win. So, I think of myself as the same where, I'm not a big market guy, but when I get into the ring, I try my best to win and every fight on ProBox I’ve done that. I won, so I'm going to keep that tradition going ABOUT MARTINEZ VS. PLANTIC Guatemala will be in the house and undefeated 0’s will be on the line on Saturday, August 29, as WBC interim world super-middleweight champion Lester Martinez defends his interim title for the first time against Luka “The Thunder” Plantic, live on ProBoxTV (7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT) from the Galen Center at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Martinez, 20-0-1 (16 KOs), of Guatemala City and Zagreb, Croatia’s Plantic, 13-0 (10 KOs) will meet in the 12-round main event of a card that also features light-heavyweight Najee Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs), taking on dangerous Colombian slugger Juan Carrillo, 15-0 (11 KOs) in the night’s co-featured bout. 30-year-old Martinez, a popular, budding superstar, won his interim title in March of this year with a unanimous decision over Immanuwel Aleem in a sold-out event at the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California. 29-year-old Plantic, ranked WBC No. 3- and IBF No. 13, was last seen in November 2025 defending his WBC International super-middleweight title via TKO 9 over formerly undefeated Shadiri Musa Bwogi. In his most recent ring appearance, WBA No. 4-, IBF No. 9-, WBC No. 10- and WBO No. 14-ranked Lopez, a Puerto Rican American from Atlanta, won a “fight of the year” candidate battle against Manuel Gallegos in March 2026 to win the WBO Latino light-heavyweight championship. 2016 Olympian Carrillo, the former WBO inter-continental and IBF Latino light-heavyweight champion, was last seen in May scoring a fourth-round knockout over Marlon Delgado on the undercard of the David Benavidez vs. “Zurdo” Ramirez superfight. The University of Southern California’s Galen Center is located across the street from the USC campus. The Galen Center is the home for USC Trojans basketball and USC volleyball. On fight night, the capacity is expected to be approximately 12,000. The move to a larger venue was made necessary due to the sold-out crowd of nearly 4000 that filled the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino last March, when Martinez won his interim title by defeating Immanuwel Aleem via unanimous decision. More supporting matchups, including appearances by popular sluggers Ramon Cardenas, Luis Torres and Weljon Mindoro, plus a full lineup of “Future Stars” series prospects will be announced shortly. Martinez vs. Plantic is being presented by ProBox Promotions. *Please be advised that all bouts are subject to change.  |
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