The Hardest Quiet Fight Of The Weekend
Right then — while the O2 and Birmingham take the headlines on Saturday, do not sleep on what is happening at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Lester Martinez defends his WBC interim super middleweight title against Luka Plantic live on ProBox TV, and Martinez vs Plantic is the kind of matchup the hardcore fans circle: two unbeaten punchers, twelve rounds, and a mandatory position at 168 waiting for the winner.
Martinez is 20-0-1 with 16 knockouts and the Guatemalan has been building into something serious for a while now. He won the interim belt in a rugged, hard-fought battle last year and has just closed out a full altitude camp in Colorado Springs. Everything about his preparation says a man who knows exactly what is at stake — the winner here sits closest to the full WBC title in a division that is wide open at the top.
Plantic Is Not A Body Being Shipped In
The Croatian comes in at 13-0 with 10 knockouts, and this is his first fight on American soil. He has embraced the underdog tag all week, and fair play — the bookmakers have him a big outsider, with Martinez priced as a heavy favourite. But unbeaten European punchers with nothing to lose are exactly the type that make LA debuts interesting. Plantic will have a puncher's chance for as long as the fight lasts.
The Undercard Matters Too
Ramon Cardenas against Leonardo Carrillo in support is a proper scrap in its own right, and ProBox have quietly built one of the more watchable cards of the weekend from top to bottom.
My Prediction
Make no mistake — Plantic is brave, but brave gets you hurt against a fighter like this. Martinez is levels above in class, sharper at range and heavier-handed in the exchanges, and the altitude camp tells me he is planning to set a pace Plantic has never lived with. I take Martinez by stoppage between rounds six and nine, and I think the 168 division has to start saying his name out loud from Sunday morning. Saturday's full schedule is on our fight cards page.