Anthony Joshua shows patience in outclassing Dominic Breazeale - but may now have to be patient outside the ring

For 15 minutes or so at London’s 02 Arena on Saturday night, a packed house of boxing fans appeared a little confused as to what was going on inside the ring.

That’s because, for the second time in his career, undefeated IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua went as far as the seventh round.

The first time it took place, last December at the same venue against Dillan Whyte, the surprise came with a fair degree of appreciation that someone had given golden boy AJ a real test before falling to his 100% knockout streak so far as a pro.

This weekend, versus Dominic Breazeale, there was no such test. Joshua required seven rounds to polish off the American despite controlling the fight.

Or, did he? A second glance of the bout makes me wonder if Joshua chose to drag this particular fight out past two rounds, just to exorcise some doubts over his ring conditioning and his versatility.

It’d be interesting, if so, that Joshua and his team chose this fight to tackle some of the questions that are inevitably raised when a new star bursts onto the scene with a string of swift KOs. It’s interesting because all parties are talking very loudly about how, from here on out, Anthony will be seeking the BIG fights.

Big fights such as against fellow heavyweight titlists to unify the division. Big fights such as other big British names such as David Haye and Tyson Fury. Big fights that would surely see Eddie Hearn and Matchroom attempt to end AJ’s run of five consecutive bouts staged at the O2 in favour of a big stadium event, along the lines of Froch vs Groves at Wembley in 2014.

It doesn’t look as though his next bout will be against Fury, however. The WBA, WBO and The Ring champ injured his ankle during preparations for a contracted rematch against the man he dethroned, Wladimir Klitschko. That return bout will now take place in the autumn, it seems, while Joshua will definitely want to fight again by then.

“Our conversations with Peter Fury were to look at that fight for November, December, or spring, summer next year,“ Hearn said after Joshua defeated Breazeale.

“The injury has kind of made the decision for us. We’ll see what happens with the inquiry, but we’re doing our thing, we want to get all the belts.”

Getting all the belts could lead to Joshua next bout being against Deontay Wilder, another unbeaten titlist who boasts fearsome knockout stats.

David Haye would help draw a huge crowd both live and via Sky Box Office if paired against Joshua, though the Hayemaker looks more likely to take on fellow cruiserweight-cum-heavyweight Tony Bellew first.

If Joshua’s run of huge money fights is to wait until 2017 to kick off, it looks like he will finish his 2016 duties with another mandatory title defence, which would come against Joseph Parker.

Parker, 24, has a 19-0 record with 16 KOs. The New Zealand-born Samoan has worked his way up to the top of two heavyweight rankings - including for Joshua’s IBF belt - and is recognised as a top 10 contender by all. Independent fight sports stat site BoxRec rank him as eighth at maximum weight in the world.

It’s not quite the bout both Joshua’s team and his fans expected to follow his first title defense, but it’s only a matter of time before the big showdowns arrive on the 2012 Olympian’s doorstep.

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In other notes from Saturday’s boxing, George Groves displayed more edge and mental sharpness than he has in years as he outclassed Martin Murray at super-middleweight in chief support to Joshua-Breazeale.

The two men are respected English fighters but had seven failed world title challenges between them heading into a fight which many expected would seal the end of the loser’s career. It remains to be seen whether Murray has it in him to keep looking for that elusive moment of glory, while Groves will attempt to become champion at the fourth time of asking.

This time, Groves looks less likely to resemble a deer in the headlights halfway through his quest to dethrone his opponent - but if he cannot topple Felix Sturm or Giovanni de Carolis, he should perhaps join Murray in considering hanging up the gloves.

Chris Eubank Jr continues to call out Gennady Golovkin after he finished Tom Doran inside four rounds. With Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez inexplicably not fighting GGG until late 2017, Matchroom see an opportunity to have such a bout support Joshua on another big card later this year.

"It would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history, I believe,” Junior said. “With the reputation he has, to take that scalp in England, that’s history.

"This guy is not indestructible. He’s not the bogeyman. He has two arms, two legs and a heartbeat, just like me. I can beat him.”

Finally, Americans Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter outshone any bout on the London card with a belting 12-rounder in Brooklyn. Thurman won via close unanimous decision, 115-113 on all three cards, as neither man showed much rust after almost a year apiece without action.