Unlike Filip Hrgovic, however, Croatia’s Plantic wasn’t able to pull off an upset against a heavily favored, undefeated opponent who had the crowd on his side. Lester Martinez dealt well with Plantic’s non-stop pressure, was the sharper puncher and consistently controlled the action on his way to winning by 10th-round knockout at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles, where more Guatemalans live than anywhere outside of Martinez’s home country.

Martinez seemed well on his way to a decisive decision win when referee Rey Corona curiously declared him the winner of a main event ProBox TV streamed on its YouTube channel. Plantic protested the stoppage because he was on his feet and not badly hurt when Corona stepped between the fighters and ended their scheduled 12-rounder at 2:23 of the 10th.

“I know the power that he had,” Martinez said during his post-fight interview. “Hopefully he goes back to his family safe. But that guy hits [hard].”

The 30-year-old Martinez retained the WBC interim 168-pound championship he won in his previous bout, which he won by unanimous decision over Immanuwel Aleem on March 21 in San Bernardino, California.

Martinez (21-0-1, 17 KOs), ranked No. 4 among The Ring’s super middleweight contenders for a vacant championship, hopes his victory leads to facing the winner between Christian Mbilli and Canelo Alvarez next. Mbilli, who fought Martinez to a split draw in one of the best action fights of 2025 nearly a year ago, will defend his WBC super middleweight crown against Alvarez on October 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Martinez’s jab to the chest surprisingly dropped Plantic 55 seconds into the 10th round. Plantic disputed the knockdown, but the force of the punch sent the off-balance boxer to the canvas.

That shot also might’ve encouraged Corona to stop their bout soon thereafter.

“Little by little, I was landing the bigger shots,” Martinez said. “And I could see that it was taking a toll on him.”

Martinez peppered Plantic (13-1, 10 KOs) with right hands throughout the ninth round. Plantic remained upright, but Corona informed his trainer, Joel Diaz, that he might only give the challenger one more round if he didn’t do better in the 10th.

Plantic wasn’t as reckless in the eighth round as the previous three minutes, but Martinez did more damage with his right hand and remained in control two thirds of the way through their bout.

Martinez acknowledged Plantic’s toughness by uncharacteristically touching gloves with him when a competitive seventh round concluded. Diaz still criticized his fighter following that round for taking too many punches.

A crisp combination by Plantic made Martinez back toward the ropes with about 20 seconds to go in the sixth round. Martinez seemed frustrated after unloading on his durable opponent that he couldn’t prevent Plantic from pressing the action.

Plantic played to the pro-Martinez crowd just after the midway mark of the fifth round and exchanged after Martinez backed him up with a combination. A flush left hook by Martinez briefly stopped Plantic from coming forward about 45 seconds into the fifth.

Martinez didn’t deter Plantic with a thudding right that connected late in a fourth round that featured several exciting exchanges. Plantic caught Martinez with a hard left to his body as they exchanged in the middle minute of the fourth.

A comfortable Martinez opened up in the third round, even as the predictable Plantic pressed forward, and blasted Plantic with various power punches.

Plantic’s pressure kept Martinez on his back foot for much of the second round. Martinez still landed a hard counter right and a clean left hook in those three minutes.

Martinez landed a left uppercut late in the first round, but Plantic reset his feet and kept coming forward. Plantic took the same tact to the nine ensuing rounds, but he never seemed to affect Martinez with any of his punches.

Najee Lopez recorded a highly unusual knockout in the bout before Martinez defeated Plantic.

Lopez landed a clearly legal body blow that dropped Juan Carillo with 1:35 to go in the ninth round of this highly competitive battle between unbeaten light heavyweight contenders. That hard right to Carillo’s midsection left the Colombian southpaw writhing in pain.

Referee Edward Hernandez Sr. initially called it a low blow, however, and gave Carillo ample time to recover. Carillo finished the ninth round on his feet, but the bout nonetheless ended before the 10th round began.

An instant replay review by the California State Athletic Commission determined Lopez landed a clean punch in the previous round. He was therefore declared the winner by knockout, despite Hernandez botching the call in real time.

Lopez, of Ellenwood, Georgia, improved to 17-0 and recorded his 14th knockout. Carillo fell to 15-1 (11 KOs).