Plagued by promotional issues early in his career, Ryan Martin hopes to make a splash on Saturday with a big knockout of Bryant Cruz in the HBO PPV opener to Gennady Golovkin-Danny Jacobs at Madison Square Garden.

And after David Lemieux’s vicious one-punch KO of Curtis Stevens that rendered Stevens unconscious, Martin (17-0, 10 knockouts) now has his inspiration. And his competition for what he hopes is a knockout-of-the-year-type ending to his lightweight bout with Cruz (17-1, 8 KOs).

“I watched it and the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘Well, that’s one to beat right there,’” Martin told RingTV.com on Tuesday from his hotel room in snowy Manhattan. “That was a good punch. Any knockout like that — first you want to make sure the other fighter is ok. Yeah, knockouts like that are exciting and it does motivate any other fighter to want to go out there and do the same thing. I’m predicting a knockout. A big knockout.”

Martin is a former amateur star who has taken an unconventional, winding path to Saturday’s moment. He was signed to 50 Cent’s promotional firm but languished as the rapper’s SMS Promotions filed for bankruptcy, forcing him to negotiate a settlement for his release.

Though he remains unsigned, Martin has a good “working relationship” with promoter Tom Loeffler, who has guided Martin in his last four fights, he said. “I’m not looking at any other promotional company,” the 24-year-old remarked.  The bout on Saturday will mark the third time he has fought on the undercard of Roman (Chocolatito) Gonzalez and the second with Golovkin. He hopes to impress his colleagues with a notable showing. “I know he’s going to be in a tough fight on Saturday night,” Martin said of Cruz. “He’s a good, little boxer. I’m not really worried what he’s going to bring to the table because it’s going to be my night. I’m going to dominate from the opening bell to the end.”