When Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz square off on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, they will represent a change that's been needed in the heavyweight division for over a decade. Both fighters come into the bout sporting undefeated records and plenty of knockout power, but the division as a whole has felt somewhat dormant without a true knockout artist reigning supreme.

However, both have plenty of questions to answer when they go toe-to-toe in the center of the ring.

Heavyweight certainly bears the most exciting group of young talent it has seen in years, but just about all of said talent remain unproven. 

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Unified champion Anthony Joshua's knockout victory over former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko last April may be the lone quality elite win among the group and the British star was forced to get up off the canvas in order to get there. But don't get it twisted -- that uncertainty plays a big part in why the big heavyweight fights over the next months have the potential to be so fun. 

Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) will look to make the seventh defense of his WBC title when he faces Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs) on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET). On March 31, Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) will then face WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) in the other half of what could amount to a de facto tournament semifinal. 

The questions facing Wilder entering this fight are clear: Can his chin withstand the attack of such a dangerous puncher in Ortiz, who also has the amateur background, and outbox him should the fight play out from distance? Will the technical mistakes the still-raw Wilder regularly makes come back to haunt him? 

For Ortiz, the questions facing him have more to do with age (he's 38, although unfounded rumors still circulate that he's much older) and whether his most dominant victories, including a dismantling of Bryant Jennings in 2015, were more the result of performance-enhancing drugs?

Ortiz, who has twice failed drug tests in the last three years, is unable to count Wilder among those who believe he's clean. Ortiz was popped dirty last October ahead of his originally scheduled bout with Wilder for failing to pre-disclose blood pressure medication, which can be used as a masking agent for other PEDs.  

"Come on, man. Come on," Wilder told CBS Sports' "In This Corner" podcast on Monday. "We all know that once anybody uses banned substances in any sport, we know that is not their first time taking it. That is just the first time they got caught. Unfortunately for Ortiz, this is his second or third time he done got caught. This is not new. 

"The second time we already assumed he would do it and he did. The blood pressure pill is a cover up, it was a masking agent to what he really did. We don't know what he really did."

Ortiz, who was cleared of any wrongdoing by the WBC, allowing him to seek a second chance with Wilder, attempted to clear his name during a recent media day. He explained that, as a heavyweight, he doesn't need to cut weight, which would make it useless for him to use a banned diuretic for illegal purposes. 

"A lot of people that believe in me and know me well, know that I would not do anything that can jeopardize my future as a boxer," Ortiz said. "I have too much at stake: my family, my children and the possibility to provide for them.

"I had been taking that medicine for two years. It was my mistake not to disclose that prescription drug in the paperwork. I never thought a prescription was going to bring me so much trouble. I was taking this medicine to treat high blood pressure, but apparently it's also used to go to the bathroom a lot and mask other things. I drink two gallons of water per day. I go to the bathroom a lot already."

Ortiz said the fight was ultimately meant to be and that "destiny" played a part in him getting a second chance. From Wilder's perspective, he's just willing to do whatever it takes to finally win over his critics' respect. 

"Some people can't understand when they see greatness," Wilder said. "Some day when I retire, they will say 'Deontay Wilder was the best heavyweight champion in the world, period.' But I don't want them to do that. I don't want to be like other champions and be recognized and have people appreciate what I've done at the end. I want them to do that now and shower me with love now and understand what they are seeing. 

"The old days are gone, this is the new time and the new generation. A lot of people always reflect on the old days but half the people don't know what the f--- went on in the old days, they go off of heresay. They don't know. But they have to appreciate the new era and Deontay Wilder is among the new era."

Wilder vs. Ortiz fight card

FavoriteUnderdogWeightclass

Deontay Wilder (c) -325

Luis Ortiz +250

Heavyweight

Jose Uzcategui -200

Andre Dirrell +160

Super middleweight

Prediction

If you can guarantee Ortiz will be the version of himself who beat Jennings, Wilder would need to be looked at as a solid underdog. But that was five fights ago for Ortiz, and the performances which followed have been either uninspiring or too difficult to rate because of the quality of his opposition.

Looking past his history with drugs is just too difficult to do in this case, making the idea of Ortiz truly being the most well-rounded and dangerous heavyweight in boxing just that -- an idea, if not an outright mirage. While "King Kong" certainly has the power to end Wilder's night with one shot, especially since the champion's chin is far from being perceived as granite, there are other hurdles worth mentioning. 

At a muscular 6-foot-4, Ortiz certainly has the size to match up Wilder's 6-foot-7 frame. But no one at heavyweight can compete with Wilder's athleticism, which could play a major role should this fight turn into a shootout early on. 

Counting Wilder out comes at the expense of acknowledging that he brings the most dangerous weapon of either man into the fight with his huge right hand. He has also improved on the accuracy of his long jab to set it up. While Ortiz would hold the advantage should this turn into 12 rounds of boxing, that's something Wilder fights rarely end up becoming. 

Outside of Bermane Stiverne in 2015, when Wilder broke his right hand early, every opponent he has faced has been finished. In fact, Wilder's first-round dismantling of Stiverne in their 2017 rematch was the knockout of the year and the most scary he has ever looked. 

For all of the advantages Ortiz should have in terms of technique, eventually this fight will come down to which guy can land his best punch cleanly and which one can do it first to alter the course of the fight and command control of distance and pace. 

Wilder has an incredibly dangerous weapon in his right hand, he has the athleticism to land first and, maybe more importantly, he's riding an incredible run of self-confidence and anger-fueled intensity to prove to himself that he's more dangerous now, as a still unproven commodity at the highest level, than ever before. 

Ortiz certainly provides the kind of danger Wilder has never seen before. The question is, will that danger propel Wilder to a performance we have yet to see from him and the kind that will ultimately define his career?  

Up until late last year, I would've penalized Wilder for still being too raw. But go back and watch the body language of the man who stepped into the ring last November against Stiverne. That man is a scary individual, ready to find out how great he can be. In this case, youth will be served. 

Pick: Wilder by 6th-round KO.