By Jake Donovan

The night was always billed as the first heavyweight fight to take place in Brooklyn in 115 years, though previously served as the tagline for the main event between Deontay Wilder and Artur Szpilka.

That honor now belongs to the evening's co-feature, as Vyacheslav Glazkov faces Charles Martin in a vacant title fight. Both bouts air live on Showtime from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET).

Glazkov (21-0-1, 13KOs) had the chance to face Wilder in the headliner and in fact was in negotiations with the unbeaten American heavyweight titlist. He also had in his back pocket a mandatory title shot at newly crowned World (lineal) heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

The opportunity was earned - relatively speaking - with a disputed 12-round win over Steve Cunningham last March. The debated victory was in line with his close nod over Derric Rossy (Aug. '14) and controversial draw with Malik Scott (Feb. '13).

At the very least, though, it can be said that the unbeaten boxer from Ukraine - who now trains out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - has been in with tough talent. Also included on his ledger is a convincing points win over former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek in March '14.

Conversely, Martin (22-0-1, 20KOs) jumps way up in competition.

The 29-year old southpaw - who lives and trains in Southern California - went from unknown prospect to heavyweight contender in the blink of an eye, despite lacking a single win over a Top 10 contender.

Still, the knockout artist made his presence felt in undercard fights of shows headlined by a heavyweight champ. A 1st round knockout of Tom Dallas last April came beneath then-champion Wladimir Klitschko's 12-round decision over Bryant Jennings at Madison Square Garden.

Five months later, Martin stopped pudgy Vicente Sandez in three rounds, with the fight coming less than an hour after Wilder knocked out France's Johann Duhaupas this past September in Birmingham, Alabama.

Martin's bout came on an NBC Sports Network telecast, immediately following the NBC televised portion of the show headlined by Wilder's title defense. Also on the NBC card was Dominic Breazeale, who scored a questionable 10-round decision over Fred Kassi.

From the night came the idea to match Martin and Breazeale in a fish-or-cut-bait heavyweight crossroads bout last December in San Antonio.

Those plans fell apart during fight week - a string of events that began with Glazkov withdrawing from talks to face Wilder, instead enforcing his mandatory title shot versus Fury. That moved prompted Fury to vacate the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title, as he was locked into a rematch with Klitschko.

As the title became vacant, Martin was the next highest rated challenger after Glazkov. His plan was to take both fights, but his handlers - including high-powered adviser Al Haymon - convinced him to sit out the December fight and focus on his first career title shot.

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: VYACHESLAV GLAZKOV vs. CHARLES MARTIN

Ryan Burton (Glazkov SD): The Ukranian's experience edge leads him to a victory in a close fight.

Jake Donovan (Glazkov Dec.): The size difference always suggested that Martin gets the edge in an otherwise 50/50 fight. I'd have a better feeling about his chances if he didn't show up fleshy and at a career-heaviest 249 lbs. Glazkov is the more fluid fighter and looks in supreme condition, considering he only had four weeks to properly train for the matchup. I like him to outwork Martin, although I'm less optimistic about this awkward clash of styles producing an entertaining fight. I hope I'm wrong at least on the latter part.

Takahiro Onaga (Martin KO11): Glazkov has been lucky and Martin will nknow he has to take this out of the judges hands, which I think he'll manage to do late in the bout.

Cliff Rold (Glazkov Dec): Martin is too inexperienced to win though it would be poetic justice if the boring Glazkov finally had a bad decision go against after trying to cherry pick the easiest path to a belt he could

Victor Salazar (Martin Dec.): It's a 50-50 fight and i think it will be close. this time glazkov is on the wrong end of a close fight.

Alexey Sukachev (Martin KO10): Martin is a prohibitive underdog against a much more accomplished fighter but I don't trust bookmakers here. The American is pumped up, confident and fights at home. Glazkov is a nice technician but he isn't as skilled as his rank could suggest. He was arguably beaten almost every time he moved up in class - against USS Cunningham, Derrik Rossy and Malik Scott among other. He can be winning this time but then Martin will suddenly connect with something big to gave Glazkov out in an upset.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox