Anthony Joshua came through his first real test as a professional, knocking Dillian Whyte out in the seventh round to win the British heavyweight title. Olympic champion Joshua, 26, came into the fight boasting 14 straight knockouts in the first three rounds. But Whyte, 27, stood up to some huge blows and, perhaps more importantly, managed to land a few of his own.

Joshua’s thrilling victory was greeted by raucous celebrations at the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, making it abundantly clear that Britain has a new heavyweight hero. And Joshua’s emergence could lead to some fascinating heavyweight encounters on these shores over the next few years.

Britain’s former world champion David Haye makes his comeback in January after a three-year injury lay-off, but promoter Eddie Hearn is unlikely to risk his prize asset against such a potentially dangerous opponent any time soon.

The fight all of Britain would like to see is Joshua versus Tyson Fury, who won the WBA, IBF and WBO titles from Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf a fortnight ago. Fury was later stripped of his IBF title. Fury and Klitschko will fight again next summer and if the Manchester boxer wins again, the clamour for him to fight Joshua will be deafening.