ZAGREB, 30 May 2022 - Croatian boxer Luka Plantić, a member of the Salona Boxing Club, ended up winning the bronze medal at the European Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia after losing in the semi-final match. 

The 25-year-old Plantić lost the semi-final match to Russian athlete Artem Ageev who competed for Serbia. Ageev is one of seven Russians wearing Serbia's colours at the championships in Yerevan. He won the first medal for Serbia's boxing team back in 1991.

The bronze medal is Plantić's best career success after winning the junior European championships and second place in the junior world championships.

A total of 219 boxers from 39 countries competed in Yerevan and medals were won by boxers from 20 countries.

Croatia had five competitors at the championships - Luka Plantić, Petar Cetinić, Matteo Komadina, Marko Zeljko and Damir Plantić.

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May 28, 2022 - Croatian boxer Luka Plantić advanced to the semifinals of the European Championships in Yerevan in the light heavyweight category up to 80 kg, thus securing at least a bronze medal!

The 25-year-old Olympian defeated Armenian Hambardzum Hakobyan 5-0 in the quarterfinals unanimously by the judges after a relentless, fierce fight in all three rounds; likely the most ferocious battle ever seen at the European Championships. In an unprecedented clash that went into three rounds and several complex exchanges of blows from both sides, Luka Plantić shook the strong, aggressive Armenian in the third round and secured a European medal and semifinal spot, reports Gol.hr.

Plantić will box in the semifinals on Sunday, May 29, in the evening program against Serbian Russian Artyom Ageyev.

Luka defeated great fighters from Georgia and Armenia in Yerevan. Until the semifinals, the Russian Ageyev, who fights under the Serbian flag, eliminated Pole Goinski, then the first seed Spaniard Yalidov, and in the quarterfinals, Bulgarian Nikolov. The Russian is an excellent technician; he moves great and hits as a counterpuncher. He is one of many Russian boxers on the Serbian national team led by Russian coaches at the European Championships in Yerevan.

Last year, Luka Plantić competed at the Olympics and was one step closer to the quarterfinals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as at the World Championships in Belgrade - he lost both fights by close, dubious decisions of the referees.

The Sesvete native and member of BK Salona from Solin has so far been the world runner-up in the junior seniors (2014), and in the same year, he won a bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games in China.

Filip Hrgović won the last medal for Croatia at the European Senior Boxing Championships in 2015.

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January 11, 2022 - Last year's most successful Croatian boxer, Luka Plantić, returns to the professional boxing ring this year! 

The Croatian boxer advanced to the round of 16 of the light heavyweight category at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the World Championships in Belgrade last year and was the junior champion of Europe and the junior vice-champion of the world in 2014. He also won the bronze medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China.

Three years ago, he fought in the professional ring and recorded three wins in three appearances in Germany. He has booked a professional match in Miami on February 11, 2022, and is traveling to America this week. Upon his arrival in Florida, he will find out the name of his first opponent, reports Gol.hr.

Professional fights in Miami are organized by the celebrated Cuban coach Pedro Luis Diaz Benitez, one of the most respected boxing coaches in the world, who also holds the Doctor of Sports Sciences title. At the beginning of his professional career, Pedro Diaz also coached Croatian bronze medalist (Rio 2016) Filip Hrgović. 

The Torcida Split Boxing Club announced that Branimir Malenica would also fight in Miami at the Pedro Diaz event on February 11 this year, reports Dalmacija Danas.

Boxer Branimir Malenica spoke on the occasion:

"We are delighted to fight at this boxing event. In December 2021, Luka and I were at a training camp in Switzerland with Pedro Diaz. Special thanks to Ivan Dijaković, who believed in us and attended that training camp.

Pedro Diaz was satisfied with our training and expressed his desire to fight in Miami. He was the Cuba national team coach from 1992 to 2004, which won 20 gold, six silver, and three bronze medals in that period!

Luka Plantić has a very successful career in amateur boxing, and he competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo," said Malenica.

Branimir Malenica has 73 senior matches in Germany behind him, while he achieved the first victory in the history of the Torcida Boxing Club. 

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July 25, 2021 - Luka Plantić made sure that the small Croatian boxing delegation maintained a clean sheet at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after his first competition, where he defeated Jordanian Odai Riyad Adel Al Hindawi in a light heavyweight bout by a split decision (3-2).

Plantić thus joined Nikolina Ćaćić in the second round of the Olympic boxing tournament, but in a significantly different way.

The Croatian boxer was more restrained in the first round, which the judges scored (2-3) in favor of the Jordanian fighter. In the second round, Al Hindawi waited longer for counterattack opportunities and tried to keep Plantić at a distance, but the judges rewarded Plantić's greater activity (3-2).

In the third round, especially towards the end of the fight, both fighters ran out of strength which affected the accuracy and strength of the punches. Plantić was more aggressive again and perhaps that was the impression that ruled.

Namely, the Russian and Algerian scoring judges gave Plantić an advantage in all three rounds, the Moroccan and the Korean scored the same fight in favor of the Jordanian boxer, and the Argentine judge prevailed, giving the first round to Al Hindawi, and the second and third to the Croatian fighter, who was given the opportunity to continue on his way to the Olympic medal.

Rogelio Romero Torres, a 26-year-old Mexican who was free in the first round, is waiting for him on that trip on Wednesday, July 28, at 1:12 PM CET.

Source: HRT

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June 6, 2021 - Luka Plantić is the first Croatian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo!  

Luka Plantić (24) won a spot in the quarterfinals of the Olympic qualifiers in the light heavyweight category (81 kg) against Irishman Emmat Brennan and became the first Croatian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, reports T.portal. 

Plantić started the match aggressively against the powerful Brennan, and in the first minute, the referee counted on the Irish boxer. The Sesvete fighter kept his advantage until the end, and all five referees gave him their vote and unanimously declared him the winner.

At the beginning of the qualifications in London in 2020, Plantić defeated Austrian seed Umar Dzambekov, and on Friday, broke the Armenian Gora Nersesyan in the first round.

"We worked for this moment for a year and were preparing for the qualifiers. I came fully ready, made great progress, and knew that no one could stop me. The quarterfinals against the Irish boxer was like a World Cup final to me, a lot of pressure, and as I announced - I knew I was a bigger fighter than him and than anyone and that I would prove it. It wasn’t easy; he’s excellent, he didn’t give up all three rounds. I had the strength for a few more rounds, but after the first two, it was clear that I had a big advantage and that I could also save a little for the semi-finals. The fight with Whittaker will be much more relaxed, without pressure, now I will enjoy boxing, and we will celebrate the success upon our return to Croatia," said Luka.

Earlier, Croatian boxer Marko Milun (24) failed to qualify for the Olympic qualifiers quarterfinals in Paris in the super heavyweight category (+91 kg). In the round of 16, Milun lost by unanimous decision of the refs (5-0) to the favorite of the category, Briton Fraser Clarke. The more experienced Clarke managed to impose his style of fighting and used more weight. From such a static, dirty fight with a lot of pushing and wrestling, pulling and holding Milun, Clarke managed to place two strong shots in the first and second rounds, forcing the ref to count Milun twice. On his Facebook profile, the modest athlete from Dicmo, a member of Leonard from Zagreb, realistically assessed the long-awaited fight with the powerful Briton:

"Today marks the end of a major chapter in my life. Everything I did, I did precisely because of this opportunity that I unfortunately missed. As for the fight, I never got away with it, so that I won't do it this time either. We both did our best, and in the heat of the fight, I lost consciousness at the very beginning. I suspect a punctured eardrum, but whatever it is, I was not fully aware of the fight," said Milun.

He is left hoping that he can go to Tokyo through the World Boxing Federation ranking list because only four super heavyweights will qualify directly from Paris, i.e., only the semifinalists.

Nikolina Ćaćić, in the 57 kg category, will fight in the quarterfinals for Tokyo on Sunday, June 6, in the afternoon program.

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