Boxing: Joshua-Klitschko announcement and fantastic undercard save Eddie Hearn's PPV format

Well, Saturday night’s boxing card in Manchester turned into a pleasant surprise.

You’ve probably already read where we’re heading towards next year as a result, too, but we’ll get to that.

After needless stunts in the build-up to Dereck Chisora vs Dillian Whyte left a sour taste in the mouth of many, the two British heavyweights put on the type of well-matched, physical scrap that had many keen to see the fight before any tables had been thrown or any disciplinary procedures had been considered.

This was after Frank Buglioni and Hosea Burton tore the house down in a thrilling war which had several pugilistic experts frantically reconsidering their Fight Of The Year listings. The wins for Buglioni and Whyte alone were enough to convince paying customers that a card which ran the risk of looking unworthy of pay-per-view status was worth the investment.

[JOSHUA CRUSHES MOLINA INSIDE THREE ROUNDS]

[ROUND UP OF ALL THE MATCHES FROM AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT OF BOXING]

However, while great fights between good pairings deliver satisfaction, it’s the names on the box office that will determine the future of one-off fees per event in an age of marquee subscription content for a low regular price. In this instance, that would be world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and hopeful leader of the rise of mainstream women’s boxing Katie Taylor.

And on this night, they delivered.

Neither Taylor nor AJ are having particularly nail-biting contests at present. Joshua is swatting away opponents left right and centre – save for a slightly more exciting meeting vs Whyte – while Taylor doesn’t really have much competition as she outclasses inferior opponents, waiting for that eventual blockbuster to come.

[JOSHUA-KLITSCHKO TITLE FIGHT CONFIRMED FOR APRIL]

And while both boxers are undeniable box office draws, they’ll need the big bouts down the line. And that’s why the action involving Joshua after his latest victory inside the distance vs Eric Molina was far more worth watching than his actual main event fight itself.

Indeed, it is now official. Joshua will fight the man who dominated the heavyweight scene for a decade, Wladimir Klitschko. It will take place at Wembley Stadium on April 29, the first huge boxing show at the iconic stadium since Froch-Groves 2 three years before it.

And since there was a small window of big hope that December 10’s card was actually going to be the day it happened, in the wake of Tyson Fury’s personal issues and subsequent vacation of his titles, the disappointment of another easy AJ triumph was washed away with that formal post-match declaration.

Wladimir was well beaten by Tyson in Dusseldorf just over a year ago, as it was a British boxer who finally found the way to neutralise Klitschko’s grating defensive style and force him to chase a fight for the first time in years.

If Joshua is to become the second Brit to show Dr. Steelhammer that his days on top are truly over, it’s likely he’ll look to do it a different way – the only way he knows how, and the only way he’s ever left a professional boxing ring so far in his career.

If the potential sight of the man who spent so many years looking frustratingly untouchable alongside his fellow champion brother Vitali being wiped out like just another Joshua victim doesn’t get your adrenaline pumping, then boxing probably isn’t for you.

And while the April 29 event will no doubt come with a Sky Box Office fee – one that nobody will hesitate to lay down their hard-earned for – it has to be said that Eddie Hearn has managed to once again stave off the eventual extinction of the business method which became so popular starting in the 1980s and will be able to charge fees for several more shows in 2017 without getting too much stick.

He did so with the help of one of the best undercards he has put on in a while, promotional choices of some of the more temperamental boxers notwithstanding, and with a lot of help from Joshua, Klitschko and a deft touch of timing.