Lester Martinez vs. Luka Plantic | ProBox TV - August 29, 2026

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Ramon Cardenas-Sam Goodman off, Cardenas moved to ProBox show on August 29

A day after announcing recent title challengers Ramon Cardenas and Sam Goodman were due to face off in Australia to beef up the Errol Spence Jnr-Tim Tszyu card in late July, the bout has been scrapped.

Promoter Sampson Lewkowicz told Boxing Scene Tuesday that Cardenas will instead be assigned to further infuse the late August 29 ProBoxTV card.

Lewkowicz said he is working on retaining a new opponent for Cardenas, 27-2 (15KOs), the San Antonio, Texas, product who knocked down undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue in their thrilling 2025 bout.

Australia’s Goodman 22-1 (8KOs), who went the distance last year versus then-featherweight champion Nick Ball, is ranked No. 2 in the WBC 122lbs division with Cardenas No. 4.

Cardenas was originally slotted on the August ProBoxTV card that will be headlined by WBC interim super middleweight beltholder Lester Martinez, and now he returns, with Lewkowicz telling Boxing Scene he is eyeing an undisclosed opponent “I really like.”

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Lester Martinez, Najee Lopez, Ramon Cardenas to return in August

Super middleweight contender Lester Martinez is remaining active while the division simmers.

Martinez (20-0-1, 16 KOs), the WBC interim 168-pound titleholder and The Ring’s No. 4-rated fighter in the weight class, is set to return August 29 against Luka Plantic (13-0, 10 KOs) in a 12-round fight to headline a ProBox TV event at a Los Angeles venue still to be determined, it was announced on Thursday.

In the co-main event, Najee Lopez (16-0, 13 KOs), The Ring’s No. 7-ranked light heavyweight contender, returns from his Fight of the Year candidate and eighth-round stoppage win in March against Manuel Gallegos to take on 2016 Colombian Olympian Juan Carrillo (15-0, 11 KOs).

Junior featherweight contender Ramon Cardenas (27-2, 15 KOs), ranked No. 5 by The Ring at 122 pounds, is also slated to be featured on the show against an opponent still to be determined.

Martinez last fought in March and picked up the interim title he now holds with a one-sided unanimous decision win against Immanuwel Aleem at the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California. The matchup marked Martinez’s first outing since engaging in a majority-draw war with Christian Mbilli in September.

Mbilli was the WBC interim champion at the time and became the full titleholder in December, after undisputed king Terence Crawford was stripped of the WBC belt shortly before retiring following his September win over Canelo Alvarez. Mbilli has since moved on to a scheduled clash against Alvarez on September 12 in Saudi Arabia.

Martinez, a 30-year-old from Guatemala, should be in a prime position to eventually meet the winner if his outing against Plantic ends without a hitch.

Plantic is ranked No. 3 by the WBC and No. 13 by the IBF but has never broken through outside of the European boxing circuit. The 29-year-old Croatian last fought in November, stopping the previously unbeaten Shadiri Musa Bwogi in nine rounds.

[MPW]

It's good to see that Martinez is staying busy with another bout this year. Plantic is a decent fighter who's fought exclusively in Europe but with success, although it remains to be seen if it translates to the next level.

[Taansend]

Nothing against Plantic but I hope Martinez puts in an early GGG like destructive performance that makes the Boxing World go "oooohhh"

We need a major star from Central America. Chocolatito is done now so bring on the next.

[margaret thatcher]

good matchup

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Lester Martinez-Luka Plantic and Najee Lopez-Juan Carrillo set for August 29 doubleheader

Lester Martinez is looking to strengthen his position among the best super middleweights on the planet when he takes on Croatia’s unbeaten Luka Plantic on August 29.

The ProBox TV event, set for the Galen Center in Los Angeles, will also feature another crucial encounter in chief-support, as streaking light heavyweight contender Najee Lopez risks his lofty world rankings when he shares dukes with unbeaten Colombian southpaw Juan Carrillo.

Martinez, 20-0-1 (16 KOs), knows that victory over the unbeaten Plantic, 13-0 (10 KOs), puts him in pole position to challenge the winner of the proposed October clash between WBC champion Christian Mbilli and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Martinez, from Guatemala, held Mbilli to a wildly entertaining 10-round draw last September on the same Las Vegas bill that saw Canelo lose all his 168lbs titles to Terence Crawford. Mbilli was subsequently upgraded from interim beltholder to champion, making him an attractive target for the come backing Canelo after Crawford retired.

That interim strap then became the property of Martinez in March when he widely decisioned Immanuwel Aleem over 12 rounds.

Victory here, against the highly regarded Plantic, and the biggest of fights beckon for the 30-year-old.

Plantic has a history with Mbilli, too. During an illustrious amateur career that saw him run both Joshua Buatsi and Ben Whittaker close, he stopped a raw Mbilli inside one round back in 2013 and was a 2020 Olympian who went on to win bronze at the European championships.

As a professional, Plantic has cruised through his first 13 bouts, taking the unbeaten records of Bruno Acosta and Shadri Bwogi in his two most recent outings.

Fire extinguishers might also be needed for the co-feature as thrill-seeking Lopez collides with Carrillo in a potential light-heavyweight barnburner.

The 26-year-old Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs) and from Puerto Rico, wowed audiences in March when he halted Manuel Gallegos in the eighth round of an up-and-down brawl so typical of Garry Jonas’ ProBox TV.

Lopez is ranked fourth by the WBA, ninth by the IBF, 10th by the WBC, and the WBO place him 14th.

Carrillo, a 33-year-old southpaw, can boast a victory over Gilbert Castillo Rivera and, last time out, he ruined the unbeaten record of Marlon Delgado with a fourth-round knockout.

Also scheduled for a potentially show-stealing cameo is Ramon Cardenas, the leading junior featherweight who gave the all-conquering Naoya Inoue a hard fight 15 months ago and, in December, knocked out Erik Robles Ayala in five rounds.

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Ramon Cardenas, back on August 29, eyeing Junto Nakatani chance

Ramon Cardenas is targeting a showdown with Junto Nakatani but the 30-year-old junior featherweight is almost resigned to his call going unanswered. All he wants is another chance against a leading name and Cardenas, from San Antonio, Texas, has surely earned it.

For a moment, in May 2025, Cardenas looked down at the man widely regarded as the best fighter in the entire sport today. Cardenas, a big underdog, had just floored Naoya Inoue in the second round of their Las Vegas world title fight.

“I learned that I'm built for that level,” he said when reflecting on Inoue. “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.”

Cardenas, 27-2 (15 KOs), has since found it difficult to tempt other big names to join him. He ultimately lost to Inoue in eight rounds, albeit with his reputation enhanced. The Texan, who knocked out Erik Robles Ayala in the fifth round in December, is hoping to regain momentum on August 29 against an opponent to be decided when he appears on undercard of Lester Martinez-Luka Plantic inside the Los Angeles Galen Center on ProBox TV.

It's a platform that has so far served him well.

“[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,” Cardenas said.

There was some reluctance from Cardenas to call anyone out. But there is one man he has identified. A man who, like Cardenas, has faced Inoue.

“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.

“I've never been to the big callout guy,” he continued before identifying a fighter who was outpointed by Inoue in May. “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.”

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Press Release

WBC interim super middleweight champion Lester Martinez and his upcoming challenger, Luka “The Thunder” Plantic, went face to face for the first time today, at a press conference to promote their August 29th showdown, live on ProBoxTV (7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT) from the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Martinez (20-0-1 with 16 KOs) of Guatemala City and Zagreb, Croatia’s Plantic (13-0 with 10 KOs), will meet in the twelve-round main event on a card that also features light-heavyweight Najee Lopez (16-0 with 13 KOs), taking on Colombian slugger Juan Carrillo (15-0 with 11 KOs). Also scheduled is an appearance by 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. Here is what the fighters and their trainers, had to say:

Lester Martinez

First and foremost, good afternoon. Thank you everybody for being here. I will be defending my title on August 29th. 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 29th, 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.bShout out to ProBox. It's going to be an amazing card. August 29th. 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 29th. You’re going to see a great spectacle.

Bob Santos (Juan Carrillo's 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.

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Ramon Cardenas-Leonardo Carrillo, two more fights added to Lester Martinez-Luka Plantic

WBA No. 2- and WBC No. 4-ranked super bantamweight Ramon “Dinamita” Cardenas, 27-2 (15 KOs), of San Antonio, will face WBA No. 12-ranked Leonardo Carrillo, 20-1-1 (9 KOs), of Panama City, in one of three new 10-round televised fights on ProBoxTV’s live world championship broadcast (7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT), Saturday, August 29, from the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Also added to the "Contender Series" portion of the show will be a 10-round lightweight battle between IBF No. 10- and WBA No. 14-ranked Luis “Koreano” Torres Valenzuela, 22-1 (13 KOs), and Jordan “Shortdog” White, 20-2 (12 KOs).

Plus Filipino knockout artist Weljon Mindoro, 17-0-1 (16 KOs), will take on three-time world title challenger Carlos Ocampo, 38-4, 26 KOs, of Mexico.

All three additional fights will be televised in support of WBC interim world super-middleweight champion Lester Martinez defending his interim title for the first time against WBC No. 3- and IBF No. 13-ranked Luka “The Thunder” Plantic in the night’s 12-round main event.

WBA No. 4-, WBC No. 10-, IBF No. 9-, and WBO No. 15-ranked light-heavyweight Najee Lopez, 16-0 (13 KOs), takes on WBA No. 9-ranked Colombian Juan Carrillo, 15-0 (11 KOs), in the co-featured bout.

Martinez vs. Plantic is presented by ProBox Promotions.