The fight was a largely uninteresting affair. Parker carried his own small burden — that of a young hopeful who could open up the sport to a new demographic back home in New Zealand and also one that could back up the promises of his outspoken promoter. Yet he approached the fight with a strategy which was disciplined and admirable, but made a victory a near-on impossible target. Parker was unable to put together the type of offense which would stand up comparably to his defence, which often frustrated and limited the frequency and creativity of Joshua’s offence other than the Brit’s left jab, which was the telling punch in the fight.

Parker often found himself unable to control the distance and backing up into the ropes, positioned by the improved footwork of Joshua. And when both were up close, and there was any real sense that the more explosive tendencies of both men could come to light, the referee was on sight to ruin the party – persistently breaking up the action like he was trying to stop a confrontation escalating between two close friends.

Parker’s showing was reflective of his position in the overall heavyweight landscape. Crafty and courageous enough to have reasonable success against other contenders, but at this stage too diminutive and raw a figure to ever claim his place as the division’s kingpin. Yet with ample time and the right mindset on his side, it will be of surprise to very few if he remains a player amongst the scene in the years to come.

As for Joshua, the takeaways from this outing predominantly mirror those from his last performance in the same arena at the end of October. Just like versus Carlos Takam, he was mostly polished and composed versus Parker. And whilst the boxing “finesse” that he showed was greatly exaggerated by his inner circle post fight, it was effective enough to leave the winner of the contest in no doubt whatsoever and further seperate the 28 year old from the pack. Yet, despite all of this, that burden of expectation remains. And with a fight which had little in terms of fireworks and drama and one which ended his knockout streak, that burden will linger even more.

It is always said that with great power and upside comes greater responsibility. In the ring, Joshua is responsible for being the technician and the entertainer – he dare not do wrong, not with all the promises and hopes. This must also be balanced with him being the motivator and mobiliser for fans and fellow fighters outside of it – often described by many as the best thing to happen to British boxing, because he brings the kind of fanfare and sponsorship which is alien to the sport, yet becomes alien to it once again after the AJ spectacle has ended and the next small arena show hits the calendars. He has to carry the destroyer hat with him constantly but immediately put on the “role model” hat once a battle is over and his hand is raised.