Lester Martinez Stops Luka Plantic in Round 10

Lester Martinez retained his interim WBC super-middleweight title with a tenth-round stoppage of Luka Plantic at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, although referee Ray Corona’s intervention at 2min 23sec was considerably less convincing than the champion’s performance.

Martinez was well ahead and had dropped Plantic earlier in the round, but the Croatian challenger remained upright, responsive and willing to continue when Corona stepped between them. It was a peculiar conclusion to an otherwise admirable contest and one which left Plantic protesting immediately. He had been comprehensively outpunched, but not rendered incapable of defending himself.

Plantic, making his first professional appearance in the United States, began with ambition rather than caution. The unbeaten 29-year-old pressed forward behind a busy guard, attempting to close the distance and prevent Martinez from settling into his measured rhythm.

Martinez landed a left uppercut late in the opening round, but Plantic reset his feet and resumed his advance. The challenger’s persistence pushed Martinez backwards through much of the second, although the Guatemalan landed the cleaner punches, notably a counter right and a crisp left hook.

By the third, Martinez had become comfortable with Plantic’s approach. The Croatian came forward along fairly predictable lines, and the champion began meeting him with combinations rather than single counters. Martinez could punch while moving backwards and then turn Plantic before the challenger had time to establish himself at close quarters.

The fourth produced some of the best exchanges. Plantic drove a hard left into the body, while Martinez replied with a thudding right near the end of the round. Plantic was competitive whenever he could force prolonged exchanges, but he was absorbing too many punches while moving into range.

Martinez briefly halted the challenger’s advance with a flush left hook early in the fifth. Plantic responded by gesturing towards the predominantly pro-Martinez crowd and willingly traded after being driven backwards by a combination. It was a display of considerable confidence, although inviting Martinez to hit him was unlikely to feature prominently in any respectable tactical manual.

Plantic enjoyed a useful finish to the sixth, landing a sharp combination which forced Martinez towards the ropes. The champion appeared frustrated that his heavier punches had not discouraged the Croatian, who possessed more durability than his limited professional experience might have suggested.

The seventh was fiercely competitive. Martinez worked effectively to head and body, while Plantic continued pressing and occasionally forced him into untidy exchanges. Martinez touched gloves with his challenger at the bell, a rare acknowledgement that Plantic’s effort and resilience had earned his respect.

That resistance came at a cost. Plantic’s trainer, Joel Diaz, warned him that he was taking too many clean punches, and Martinez increasingly controlled the contest with his jab and straight right. Plantic remained aggressive, but his attacks were becoming shorter and less frequent.

Martinez was more disciplined in the eighth, refusing to become involved unnecessarily and landing the right hand with increasing regularity. Plantic was still dangerous enough to demand attention, yet Martinez was now dictating the distance and tempo.

The champion dominated the ninth with repeated right hands. Plantic remained upright and continued trying to answer, but Corona watched him closely and reportedly warned Diaz that the challenger would need to show more in the tenth if the contest was to continue.

Fifty-five seconds into that round, Martinez sent Plantic down with a jab to the chest. It was hardly the punch from which dramatic knockdowns are generally fashioned, but Plantic was off balance, and the force of the blow put him on the canvas. He disputed the count, rose without obvious distress and resumed fighting.

Martinez continued landing, but Plantic was neither trapped helplessly on the ropes nor reeling around the ring when Corona called a halt. The referee had undoubtedly seen the accumulation of punishment at close range, yet the stoppage appeared premature. Plantic was losing and probably heading towards a wide points defeat; that did not mean he had forfeited the right to continue.

The punch statistics left no doubt about Martinez’s superiority. He landed 227 of 745 punches, compared with Plantic’s 113 from 611. More significantly, Martinez held a 151-71 advantage in power punches and connected with 40.1 per cent of those blows. Plantic managed only 20.3 per cent with his power shots.

Martinez advanced to 21-0-1 with 17 stoppages and completed the first defence of the interim championship he won against Immanuel Aleem. Plantic suffered his first professional defeat and fell to 13-1 with 10 stoppages, but his stock should not fall greatly. He was brave, durable and competitive against one of the division’s leading contenders.

Martinez, who fought Christian Mbilli to a draw in 2025, has strengthened his claim to face the winner of the forthcoming Canelo Alvarez-Mbilli contest. He remains unbeaten, carries genuine power and can operate effectively under pressure. The ending was unsatisfactory, but the result was moving firmly in his direction long before Corona made certain of it.

I was impressed by Lester Martinez, but I wasn’t impressed by the stoppage. Ray Corona stepped in at 2:23 of the tenth with Luka Plantic upright, answering back and apparently aware of what was happening. Martinez was clearly winning and had already put Plantic down, but losing a fight is not a sufficient reason to stop it. Plantic deserved the chance to finish unless he became defenceless.

Technically, Martinez solved him well. Plantic applied honest pressure and made the early rounds competitive, but he followed rather than cut off the ring. That allowed Martinez to give ground, set his feet and meet him with the left uppercut, counter right and short hook. The Guatemalan’s punch selection was better because he wasn’t throwing merely to keep busy; he was identifying the same openings and punishing them repeatedly.

Martinez also invested properly downstairs. That body work gradually shortened Plantic’s attacks and left him holding more through the middle rounds. By the ninth, the challenger was walking through right hands without producing enough in return. The figures reflected the difference: Martinez landed 227 punches to Plantic’s 113 and held a 151–71 advantage in power shots.

The tenth-round knockdown came from a jab to the chest while Plantic was off balance. It was a legitimate knockdown, but it did not leave him hurt.

Martinez was the better fighter and would almost certainly have won on points had Plantic been allowed to finish the fight. He looked strong, composed and ready for the division’s leading names. But Plantic was stopped too early.