|
ATTENTION THOSE PLANNING TO ATTEND MONDAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE IN CARSON: NO LIVESTREAMING OR BROADCASTING THE CONFERENCE IN FULL IS PERMITTED. IT WILL BE PREMIERED ON YOUTUBE AT 7 PM THE SAME DAY AND BROADCAST IN ITS ENTIRETY. FULL PRESS CONFERENCE INFO IS CONTAINED BELOW
(June 26, 2026) – The University of Southern California’s Galen Center has now been confirmed as the venue for WBC interim world super-middleweight champion Lester Martinez’s first interim title defense against top contender Luka Plantic, on Saturday, August 29, 2026, and live on ProBoxTV.
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.
More supporting matchups, including appearances by popular sluggers Ramon Cardenas, Luis “Koreano” Torres and Weljon Mindoro, plus a full lineup of “Future Stars” series prospects will be announced shortly.
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.
Martinez vs. Plantic is being presented by ProBox Promotions.
**REMINDER MEDIA ALERT**
Lester Martinez vs. Luka Plantic
Official Announcement Press Conference
Conference to be held Monday, June 29, 2026, at 1:00 pm PT at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Carson in Carson, California
ATTENTION MEDIA WHO ATTEND: NO LIVESTREAMING OR BROADCASTING THE CONFERENCE IN FULL IS PERMITTED. IT WILL BE PREMIERED ON YOUTUBE AT 7 PM THE SAME DAY AND BROADCAST IN ITS ENTIRETY
To request media credentials to attend the fight, please click: HERE.
On Monday, June 29, popular Guatemalan superstar and WBC interim world super-middleweight champion Lester Martinez will hold a press conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Carson in Carson, California, to announce his first interim title defense against Croatian super-middleweight contender Luka Plantic.
Also in attendance will be co-featured bout participants Najee Lopez and his opponent that night, Colombian slugger Juan Carrillo.
Martinez vs. Plantic is presented by ProBox Promotions. The conference will be hosted by Los Angeles-based sports commentator Beto Duran.
Media arrival starts at 12:00 pm and the conference will start at 1:00 pm PT.
WHEN:
Monday, June 29, 2026
12:00 pm – Media Arrival
1:00 pm – Press Conference Begins
WHERE:
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Carson
2 Civic Plaza, Carson, California
Phone: (310) 830-9200
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 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.
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
# # #
HOW TO WATCH FROM HOME
The first and only global sports streaming and media company dedicated exclusively to professional boxing, ProBoxTV is available in 100% of U.S. and Canadian households with broadband access, on a wide range of platforms and media partners, including ProBoxTV’s YouTube and YouTube Espanol Channels, along with Roku, Amazon Prime, Fubo, Xumo (Comcast), Sling, Plex and Google TV.
ABOUT PROBOX TV
ProBox TV is the first and only global sports streaming and media company dedicated exclusively to professional boxing. Founded in 2022 by its CEO Garry Jonas, ProBox TV provides boxing fans with the sport's premiere schedule of contender-level live events and daily/weekly long-form studio content, including talk and debate shows, podcasts, etc. Serving millions of fans globally, ProBox TV is available for free through numerous platforms and media partners, including YouTube, Amazon, Fubo TV, LG, Plex, Roku, Samsung, Tubi, Vizio and more.
For more information, visit us online:
YouTube: @ProBoxTV
YouTube Espanol: @ProBoxTVEspañol
Web (English): proboxtv.com
Web (Espanol): proboxtv.com/es
Instagram: instagram.com/proboxtvofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/ProBoxTVStreaming
Twitter: twitter.com/probox_tv
TikTok: tiktok.com/@proboxtv
Support: support@proboxtv.com
CONTACTS:
Andre Courtemanche
Director of Public Relations: ProBoxTV
(519) 329-4290
bigmediabuzz@msn.com
| 
