Lester Martinez Sops Plantic In 10 - Pound4Pound.com

Lester Martinez Sops Plantic In 10

By Albert Castillo
Photos: William Trillo

From the Galen Center on the USC campus in Los Angeles Probox put together a ten fight card that proved to be an exciting night of boxing. In the main event of the evening the Guatemalan crowd owned this fight.

Among the sea of their blue country’s flags the people yelled and screamed for their hero Lester Martinez (21-0-1, 17 KO’s) until the walls reverberated. Martinez's opponent, Croatian bull Luka Plantic (13-1, 10 KO’s) came out aggressive, strong and pushed Martinez back to the ropes for the first three rounds landing shots to the body and arms.

This forced Martinez to fight off his back foot, countering with check left hooks. And then the chanting began, “Si se puede, si se puede” and for the next 5 rounds Martinez provided a master class in defense and combinations while fighting off the ropes.

The crowd erupted with every counter punch that Martinez landed and by the end of the ninth round Plantic walked dejectedly back to his corner. In the tenth round Martinez got on his front foot and hit Plantic with a jab to the sternum that ended in a flash knockdown.

Plantic surprised got up quickly but Martinez began non-stop right and left hands and although Plantic wasn't hurt he couldn't protect himself. The referee called a halt to the contest at 2:23 of the tenth round giving Martinez his 21 win, 17th knockout and the rights to retain his WBC super middleweight title.

Najee Lopez (17-0, 14 KO’s) fought Juan Carrillo (15-1, 11 KO’s) for the WBO Latino Light Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately it was not a barn burner. Lopez and Carrillo pawed at each other for the first five rounds much to the dismay of the crowd who booed mercilessly.

Thereafter each fighter attempted a few combinations with no significant damage to either fighter. Interestingly in the ninth-round Carrillo claimed he was hit with a low blow. The referee allowed him time to recover and the fight continued. And then before the tenth round started the referee reviewed the replay and realized the low blow call was inaccurate as it was a clean punch to the midsection and therefore giving a knockout win to Najee Lopez. The time reverted back to 1:33 of the ninth round.

In this super bantamweight match up Ramon Cardenas (28-2, 15 KO’s) controlled the tempo, used ring generalship and out boxed Leonardo Carrillo (20-2-1, 9 KO’s) to garner a split decision. Two judges had it 98-92, 96-94 for Cardenas while one judge had it 97-93 for Carrillo.

In this exciting match up previously unbeaten Weijon Mindor (17-1, 16 KO’s) met his match when he faced veteran Carlos Ocampo (39-4, 17 KO’s). From the opening bell both fighters exchanged solid, crisp punches.

By the fifth round Mindoro opened a cut over the right eye of Ocampo. Mindoro, the knockout artist, hit Ocampo with many hard punches. Ocampo displayed a solid chin and took everything Mindoro had to offer. In the 7th round Ocampo began his assault on Mindoro. He caught, countered and offered a balanced attack to head and body.

In the ninth round an Ocampo counter right hand caught Mindoro cleanly on the chin. Mindoro stumbled and then slid to the canvas. Referee Ray Corona looked closely at Mindoro and determined he could not continue. Veteran Ocampo leapt to his feet while a despondent Mindoro slinked back to his corner. Ocampo by knockout at 1:59 of the ninth round.

In the TV opener for the WBC International Lightweight title Jordan White (21-2, 13 KO’s) knocked out Luis Torres Valenzuela, 22-2, 13 KO’s) at 1:47 of the ninth round. Previously Valenzuela had been dropped in the second round by a clubbing left hand.

Then in the 5th round Valenzuela got on his front foot and ripped several right and left hooks to the body of White. White appeared to be hurt as he began to drop his hands to protect his body. It was Valenzuela’s best round.

Strangely, in the 6th round Valenzuela totally backed off as if he was hurt. White took advantage and beat Valenzuela to the punch over the next three rounds. Finally in the 9th White connected with a solid combination that put Valenzuela on his back. End of fight. Jordan White maintains the WBC International Lightweight championship.

In this contest of undefeated fighters Emilio Garcia (5-0, 5 KO’s) fought like a man possessed, overwhelming Luis Guerrero Garcia (6-1, 5 KO’s). Emilio Garcia, reminiscent of William Zepeda, threw close to 100 punches in the first round.

By the second round Emilio Garcia continued his onslaught punching non-stop like a machine. Referee Raul Caiz intervened during one of Emilio Garcia barrages to stop the assault at 1:45 of the second round. The Texan Garcia out of Laredo is definitely one to watch!

Malachi Ross (6-0, 5 KO’s) continued his unbeaten streak by beating a seasoned Semajay Thomas (11-3, 8 KO’s) On paper Thomas appeared to be a step up in competition for hot prospect Ross. By round three Ross used his entire arsenal of left, right, and uppercuts to put a hurt on Thomas.

Thomas could not keep Ross off of him For three rounds Ross pushed Thomas to the ropes where he unloaded a barrage of punches. Finally at 28 seconds of the third round the referee called a halt to the contest.

Crowd favorite Hugo Mendez, (9-0, 5 KO’s) eviscerated previously undefeated Jonathan Mendez (5-1-1, 5 KO’s). You couldn't blink your eyes on this one.

Amador Mendez dropped down to his left and torqued a left hook to the gut of Morales Mendez who quickly went down in a heap. Morales Mendez could not get up and Amador Mendez scored his 5th knockout in 9 fights. The knockout - 46 seconds of the first round!

In the second bout of the evening “Razor” Ramon Ordonez (2-0, 2 KO’) stopped Rafael Perez (1-1-1, 1KO) at 1:33 of the second round. Southpaw Ordonez connected with a devastating left that shook Perez. Ordonez followed up with several more brutal punches and referee Raul Caiz stepped in to put a halt to the fight. Ordonez remains undefeated.

In the opening bout of the afternoon, Jose Mejia Garibo (3-0, 1 KO) maintained his perfect record by scoring a unanimous decision win over Aram Alberto Menindez Pedraza (1-1, 1 KO). All judges had it 40-36.