The Spit Bucket: Undercard Bouts Carry Main Event Implications in Puerto Rico

Showtime brings us yet another big card this weekend from Puerto Rico that is heavy on future implications. The main card is highlighted by WBC/WBA Junior Welterweight champion Danny Garcia making perhaps his final defense of his titles before moving up to Welterweight to pursue a Floyd Mayweather fight. That fight, against the tough but outclassed Mauricio Herrera, is expected to be more of a showcase for Garcia but the co-feature pitting American heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Malik Scott is bringing all the drama that should be absent from the main event.

Wilder has quickly been promoted to the next great American heavyweight despite not doing anything beyond beating very delicately chosen opposition, but the fight with Scott will represent a step up in class to establish legitmacy to Wilder's otherwise scripted career. For Scott, a win would not only put him in the crosshairs for a title shot, but would also serve as a career-defining moment in a campaign that has had its share of disappointments and setbacks.

For all the hype following the "Bronze Bomber," it doesn't take require too much research to see that his career has been so carefully chosen to make him look like an invincible destroyer. Truth be told is that Wilder has been playing the atrocious "Knockout game" on the professional stage since he's turned pro and has somehow convinced a great majority of the public that he will bring the title back to the United States.

With over 30 fights into his career Wilder hasn't been in the ring against someone who is capable enough to fight back. Scott is more than able to hold his own and will also bring one thing to the ring that none of Wilder's propped up foes have had: a sense of urgency.

When Scott was emerging as a pro, there was plenty of talk that the highly skilled combatant could potentially rise to the ranks of Heavyweight kingpin one day. Injuries and promotional disputes would ultimately sideline his career for nearly two years, but not as much as Scott's state of mind as a perpetual prospect.

Scott has been a professional fighter for over 13 years, but has only competed in four 10 round fights. Last year, Scott stepped up his competition in hopes of meeting those lofty expectations set a long time ago, but fell short when he twice went up to bat.

A ridiculous draw that should have been an easy win over Vyacheslav Glazkov was quickly replaced with an equally ridiculous stoppage loss to Dereck Chisora in a fight Scott was also winning.

While this may seem to be the perfect trap fight for such a raw, unproven talent in Wilder, it all depends on the mindset of Scott and the game plan he has going forward. Can the light-hitting Scott throw caution to the wind and take a more aggressive approach to the less seasoned Wilder? Or does Scott back off when he has Wilder hurt and lets him recover like fighters do in sparring?

For two fighters hailed at one time or another as America's premier Heavyweight talents, only one of them will return back to the United States with one eye on the future where the other one may have one foot out the door.

Before the main attraction kicks off, the horribly faded Juan Manuel Lopez attempts to get back in the winners circle against former first round knockout victim Daniel Ponce De Leon on Showtime Extreme. Back in 2008, an undefeated Lopez cold-clocked De Leon in the first round to win a Junior Featherweight title.

While Lopez catapulted into stardom and would later win a Featherweight title, his career has fallen apart in stunning fashion. Lopez took a hellacious amount of punishment in a pair of knockout losses to Orlando Salido at Featherweight and was most recently pummeled by Mikey Garcia in an awful performance where he showed no hand speed or punch resistance.

De Leon has faired much better than Lopez since their first battle, even winning a Featherweight title against Jhonny Gonzales in 2013. Originally slated to be the third fight on the main card, it was recently downgraded to the free portion of the card perhaps due to Lopez's recent form and the presumption that the fight will be a mismatch. Should De Leon win he may very well the first fighter to ever avenge a first round knockout.