Fernando Martinez feverishly shadowboxed and then alternated one-armed pushups before ripping off his shirt to show off his shredded physique during his workout on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. Martinez even moved to the beat booming from the speakers and strutted dance steps to Sonique's "It Feels So Good."

The tough task of facing Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez, Martinez's opponent on Saturday, isn’t music to anyone’s ears. But Rodriguez, The Ring and unified 115-pound champion, wasn't anywhere to be found. For good reason, though.

Rodriguez was on FaceTime supporting his girlfriend while she was in labor in Texas, getting ready to give birth to the couple's second child before his title unification clash on "The Ring IV: Night of the Champions" card.

While Rodriguez welcomes new life, Martinez still has a heavy heart mourning death.

Gustavo "Pileta" Gomez Maidana, the instrumental matchmaker credited for the WBA junior bantamweight champion Martinez's rise, and the co-promoter and right-hand man of Marcos Maidana, took his own life in August.

Motivated and upset-minded, Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) is ready to honor his mentor by mustering an improbable win in his matchup against Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs).

"I feel that I am in my best moment in terms of my physical attributes, and also in terms of my experiences," Martinez said after his workout. "I am ready to make history for Argentina.”

But many people, led by Rodriguez's trainer Robert Garcia, believe Martinez is tailor-made to be blasted by Bam, and that "El Pumita" will likely need to pounce and go to life and death measures to score the upset.

"I need to be a little bit more intelligent in the fight," said Martinez. "I need to tear it up when it's needed. I'm very confident, and I've come here prepared for a war."

Martinez is The Ring’s No. 1-ranked fighter at 115 pounds and has built his reputation by earning consecutive unanimous decision victories over former world champion Kazuto Ioka. The 34-year-old from Buenos Aires also owns two unanimous decision wins over ex-titleholder Jerwin Ancajas.

Since capturing a junior bantamweight title in 2022, Martinez has remained a fixture at the top of the division. Martinez would still hold the IBF belt as well had he not vacated it to chase a second showdown with Ioka. Martinez first unified titles by defeating Ioka in July last year, then duplicated the result this past May to retain his WBA title.

On the opposite side, Rodriguez — No. 6 pound-for-pound by The Ring — enters with just as much momentum. Rodriguez's resume includes victories over Juan Francisco Estrada, Sunny Edwards, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Carlos Cuadras, and, most recently, Phumelela Cafu in July. Rodriguez, 25, contended that the clash against Cafu was the toughest of his fast-ascending career.

Martinez, meanwhile, wants to reach glorious levels like fellow countryman and soccer superstar Lionel Messi and become another Argentinian sporting icon, just like boxers Carlos Monzon, Sergio Martinez, and Marcos Maidana.

“It’s been a hard road,” Martinez told The Ring during an emotional training camp interview following Pileta’s death. “God puts things in our path that makes us stronger. I lost my dad, then lost a brother last year, and now a great friend and part of the team. This makes us stronger. When my dad died I wanted to leave everything behind. But my mom and my brother and my trainer [Rodrigo Calabrese] lifted me up, and they told me I had to fulfill my dad’s dream. And today, I fulfilled that dream, but I am still dreaming too. Life goes on, and these things make us stronger because we know also that Pileta did the best he could for all of us, and now we’re fighting for him, too.

“This will be one of the toughest fights of my career. I know [Rodriguez] has great punching power, but he is not as experienced as me. I am coming from several years as a professional, and I just fought with two monsters in this category, two guys who were champions for a long time. I have the experience to run him over. I will punch him a lot and close his mouth.”