Anthony Joshua passed his chin check in this month's thrilling win over Dillian Whyte, says Carl Froch.
The 26-year-old heavyweight holds the British and Commonwealth titles after knocking out Whyte with a decisive uppercut in round seven of their grudge fight at The O2.
But Joshua's unbeaten record was briefly in peril when he was wobbled by a big left hand from Whyte in round two.
The Olympic gold medallist survived the biggest scare of his professional career before recording his 15th win inside the distance and Froch believes Joshua answered questions about his punch resistance.
"For the first time in Anthony Joshua's career we saw him chin checked," Froch told Sky Sports News HQ. "He got caught with a left hook on the chin that wobbled him, hurt him.
"He got hit with a very, very hard left hook, flush on the chin when he was coming forward, so he moved into it.
"What I learned from that was firstly he's human and secondly that he can take a punch. He can adapt and showed that he can recover.
"Dillian Whyte was unbeaten, came in with lots of ambition, beat Joshua as an amateur. He came in confident with that little mental edge.
"Joshua came through that, got caught with that left hook and recovered, and got the stoppage finish."
Joshua has strengthened his reputation as the hottest prospect in the division over the past 12 months and Froch feels he should gradually build towards a world title shot in 2016.
"He's showed me there he's got the ingredients you need to become a world champion," said the former IBF and WBA super-middleweight king.
"Everybody is blowing the Anthony Joshua trumpet, that he's going to be a world champion - me as well - and that solidified my opinion that he will be a world champion one day.
"He's not quite ready for it yet. You don't need to run before you can walk. He needs to defend that British title if he can, take his time, and then when he gets to world level and wins a world title, which I believe he will, then he can remain dominant for many years."
WBA super-bantamweight champion Scott Quigg and IBF title holder Carl Frampton will finally settle their long-running rivalry at the Manchester Arena on February 27.
Froch is keen to see this battle between the two best domestic super-bantams, but will analyse each man closely in fight week before picking a winner.
He said: "That's a big fight Quigg-Frampton and it's so good that this fight has been finally made and is going to happen in the New Year.
"In February we're going to see these two fighters go in there and we're going to find out who is the best. Don't ask me to pick a winner because it's a 50-50 fight.
"I'm going to save my prediction for fight week and the reason I'm not going to pick a winner is - I literally cannot pick a winner. Scott Quigg has looked brilliant of late. Frampton is a great little fighter, I rate him a lot.
"I'm going to wait until fight week, after the press conference, listen to what they're both saying, look into their steely eyes, and then I think I'll be able to pick a winner. But at the minute that is a genuine 50-50 fight."