Anthony Joshua would've learnt so much more, say The Panel
Sunday 13 December 2015 07:38, UK
It was one thing that Anthony Joshua beat Dillian Whyte but The Panel was delighted to see him answer questions and come through some tricky times to remain unbeaten...
David Haye
I always knew AJ had heart having seen him as an amateur but it was nice for everyone else to see what he can do. It was a bit of a rocky road early doors and he took three or four unnecessary shots but other than that, he was in full control.
Obviously this was only his 15th fight, so there was a few chinks in his armour. His speed isn't as fast as it could be, his general ringmanship isn't there yet and his footwork could be better, so there are a lot of things he needs to improve, but he will look at this fight and improve on it.
Carl Froch
I thought there were worrying moments for AJ tonight but it just showed that he is a human being. Yes he got hit and looked to have been wobbled but he dealt with it and he will learn so much from a fight like tonight's. It was a really physically and mentally learning fight and he will only get better from it.
Joshua has been caught before as an amateur but when he got caught by Whyte, he stiffened up for a few rounds and his own shots looked a little slow for a couple of rounds but he got through it, woke up and started to look good. He did the job and when two unbeaten fighters get it on you know something has to give and it was Whyte who lost out. One thing I am certain of is that Joshua enjoyed that. It might not have looked fun at times, but he was having plenty of it.
Jim Watt
People are going to start picking holes, saying he was shaken, he was hurt but that is what boxing is. We also needed to see Joshua in a crisis and how he would deal with it and you can teach them anything in the gym and drum it into them but until it happens, we just don't know.
Well we now know Joshua can take a punch, even if he's hurt by a punch, but he can come through it. I thought the whole thing was terrific and credit has to go to Dillian Whyte because even though he got caught a lot, he always came back firing. It was easily Joshua's hardest fight since he turned pro but I am now more sure of Joshua than I was before.
Glenn McCrory
I thought it was exactly what he wanted. Dillian Whyte came out and did what he said he was going to do and took it to him. He asked Joshua some questions and he needed to be asked some questions and we wanted to see just that - and we saw just that. The only thing was, no-one really expected Whyte to do that so you have to give him credit but the one thing we all know now is that Joshua is by no means the finished article.
He'll understand that more than anyone and he has to work on a few things. I've always thought he looked very muscular and there was a point when we thought that being so muscular might take something away from him and he was going to stiffen up, but he came through that. Overall, boxes ticked but still some questions to be answered.
Johnny Nelson
Joshua needed this sort of fight to move up to that next level. We knew he had things to learn but on the back of this, potentially he is the real deal. At times we were biting our nails or sitting on the edge of our seats but he turned it round and did the job.
Give Dillian credit as well, though. Not only did he give Joshua's the sort of test he has never had before but he would've fought on to the very end - if he could've got up. I don't think the story between these two is over and they will fight again somewhere down the line.
