Lester Martinez Prepares for Luka Plantic with Terence Crawford's Guidance

Iron sharpens iron. It’s an old boxing line, worn thin from overuse, but every so often you see a camp that drags it back to life.

Lester Martinez is living inside that cliché right now.

The WBC interim super middleweight champion is preparing for the biggest test of his reign on August 29 against heavy-handed Luka Plantic. To get ready, he hasn’t just upgraded his sparring. He’s brought in a living, breathing masterclass: Terence Crawford.

Not as a headliner. As a teacher.

Crawford in the Gym, Temperature Rising

When Crawford walks into a gym, the mood changes. Martinez feels it. Everyone does.

"When Terence steps back into the gym, the whole energy shifts. He doesn’t just watch; he breaks down moments, tells you where your feet should be, and shows you how to dictate tempo. Having a fighter of his caliber in your ear gives you total confidence."

That’s not some retired name turning up to shake hands and pose for photos. That’s one of the finest fighters of the last decade dissecting the smallest details: a half-step here, a weight shift there, the angle that turns a traded shot into a clean counter.

Crawford turns the chaos of a fight into simple, bite-sized lessons. He slows the sport down for you, then demands you execute at full speed.

For a champion about to face a puncher like Plantic, that kind of clarity matters.

Plantic’s Jab at Fear – and Martinez’s Response

Plantic has tried to spin the storyline. In his eyes, Martinez calling in Crawford smells like fear.

Martinez doesn’t flinch.

"He can say I brought Terence because I’m scared, but on fight night, it’s just the two of us. He’ll realize very quickly that training with the best in the world wasn’t out of fear—it was out of preparation to destroy him."

There’s little in Martinez’s record to suggest nerves. He went punch-for-punch with Christian Mbilli and came away with a draw. Mbilli now heads toward a Halloween date with Canelo Alvarez. That’s the level Martinez has already brushed up against.

The Guatemalan has always carried menace in his hands. He’s a natural knockout artist, built from the legs up, sitting down on his shots, keeping that kinetic chain tight so every punch travels with bad intentions. What he needs now is refinement, not courage.

BoMac’s Demands and a Camp Under Fire

That’s where Brian “BoMac” McIntyre comes in.

"BoMac doesn't let you get comfortable. Every round in sparring has a purpose; every drill has a counter. We built a strategy specifically to neutralize Plantic's aggression and turn his momentum against him."

No coasting. No empty rounds. Every session is a problem set, and every mistake gets punished. It’s education under duress.

Crawford’s presence only turns the screws tighter. You’re not just trying to impress your trainer; you’re working in front of an undisputed champion who’s made a career out of breaking opponents mentally and tactically.

That kind of pressure either exposes you or hardens you.

A Test of Preparation, Not Nerves

Plantic will still come on strong. He’ll still throw with bad intentions and try to drag Martinez into the kind of fight where one mistake ends the night.

But Martinez hasn’t built this camp on hope. He’s built it on repetition, on stress, on the kind of elite guidance most interim champions never touch.

On August 29, the lights go up, the doors close, and Crawford steps back outside the ropes. The talking stops. The theories get tested.

Then we find out if learning from the best in the world was just a headline for camp—or the edge that keeps Martinez’s belt right where it is.