George Groves, Lee Selby, Matthew Macklin- Brian Rose and Conor Benn impress The Panel

By The Panel, Boxers, Trainers & Pundits

Anthony Joshua was always going to dominate the night but what about the undercard at The O2?

We asked The Panel to pick one fighter or fight that caught their eye before the heavyweight showdown took over.

And on a night when history was made, even Carl Froch was impressed by you-know-who...

Johnny Nelson

Conor Benn celebrated his first win as a professional boxer by dancing with his dad Nigel in the ring

Well it wasn't exactly the fight of the night but I think we saw the boxing birth of a new star in the shape of Conor Benn. It was one thing to hear them Big Ben chimes reminding us all of his old man but to do that, make his debut, in front of 20,000 people on a night like this? Wow.

Conor is going to be a star, no doubt about that. He is the same as Anthony Joshua, the way he has embraced that big stage, looked like he was enjoying it and did it with a smile on his face, says we have another special fighter on our hands.

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Carl Froch

George Groves said he is looking for a big fight next after stopping David Brophy in the fourth round

I am going to give George Groves some credit! His jab looked sharp, he looked like he was punching with a bit more power and he took his time, actually impressed me. If I am honest poor David Brophy was their to be hit and he did that and even if I don't think - and know - Groves has the best jab in the business, it looked good tonight.

Groves might have lost that aggressive and twitchy style that made him so explosive and we've been seeing him miss with loads of shots but that didn't happen in this one. He took his time But I definitely thought it was a step in the right direction. Forget about the opponent and focus on what George Groves did and he did a lot right.

Also See:

Martin vs Joshua repeats

You can still book the Sunday showing of the Sky Sports Box Office event online here.

Jamie McDonnell says he is the best bantamweight in the world after he stopped Fernando Vargas

Paul Smith

Matthew Macklin edged a majority decision win against Brian Rose and he hasn’t made his mind up whether or not he will retire

I thought it was a great fight - at least for what it was. It wasn't a crossroads fight, it was a be-all-and-end-all fight for both and there was so much on the line. 

It didn't quite gel as well as we'd hoped but it was a good fight to watch nonetheless. It was an interesting and intriguing fight to watch. Both of them took plenty of shots but there was never going to be a knockout and you have to give them both credit for pushing each other all the way. 

Glenn McCrory

Lee Selby got off the floor in the second round and outclassed Eric Hunter to retain his IBF featherweight title with a unanimous points decision victory

I always like seeing Selby and that was really good performance. He did get knocked down but you never know how good your opponent is and Selby was trying to force the fight and paid the penalty for leaving his hands down.

But he quickly regrouped and made Hunter fight and it was an exciting and entertaining fight. We know Selby has all the skills in the world but this time we saw him in an exciting fight and above all, recover from a knock down in a world title fight. We learned something else about the lad; it's going to stand him in good stead.

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