It's not just Anthony Joshua's future on the line but boxing's too... our heavyweight can bring back the glory days by beating Wladimir Klitschko

There have been some thunderous nights of boxing at the Manchester Arena since the success of Ricky Hatton in the early years of this century and beyond helped to re-establish the city as a vibrant venue for the sport. 

But rarely has there been a card as packed with talent and entertainment as the one that unfolded there last Saturday evening.

It started with a classic between Hosea Burton and Frank Buglioni that ended with Buglioni knocking out his opponent in the final round of their British light-heavyweight title contest when he was behind on the cards. Later, Kal Yafai produced a fine performance to win the WBA super-flyweight title.

Anthony Joshua successfully defended his IBF world heavyweight title

Joshua will now press ahead with his fight with Wladimir Klitschko after beating Eric Molina

Callum Smith produced an explosive knockout to remind everyone why he will challenge for James DeGale's super-middleweight titles next year, if DeGale beats Badou Jack in New York next month, and the crowd were given a glimpse of Katie Taylor, the finest stylist women's boxing has ever seen, in her second professional fight.

Then there was the barn-burner between Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte. OK, it might not have been Ward-Gatti I, II or III but it was as close as you are going to get in the British heavyweight arena. It was an epic of indomitability and determination and courage that heaped credit on both men and kept the crowd on its feet.

There was plenty of action at ringside, too. David Haye and Tony Bellew, commentating for rival broadcasters, hurled insults at each other ahead of their fight next year. Actually, Bellew, who will be the underdog, hurled insults. Haye mainly glowered.

Tyson Fury, the heavyweight champion whose health problems forced him to give up the crown earlier this year, kept his own counsel for once as he sat with friends.

Klitschko will have the chance to defeat Joshua in the showdown next April

The fight will be one of the biggest and most eagerly anticipated sporting events of 2017

Wladimir Klitschko, the king Fury dethroned, played his role as the sophisticated pugilist to perfection, suave and charming as he waited in the front row for his moment.

That, of course, depended on the progress of the main event — Anthony Joshua, the man making the second defence of the IBF version of the world heavyweight title against the lightly regarded American, Eric Molina.

Joshua did not need to be brilliant to defeat Molina, who fought with all the ambivalence of a man who knew his fate before he entered the ring. Molina is a brave fighter who has been in with WBC champion Deontay Wilder but the height of his ambition in Manchester was to stay in there as long as possible without getting badly hurt.

Joshua proved to be too good for Molina despite the American's best efforts

He hung around just long enough to make Joshua look very good. Joshua may not have the fluidity of the very slickest fighters but he boxes with a blend of grace, style and charisma that has not been seen in the heavyweight division for a generation. 

There is an elegance and an ease about his movement that is an antidote to the robotic advances of the Klitschkos and an alternative to the relentless savagery of Mike Tyson in his prime. 

He was way too good for Molina, who was flattened by a destructive straight right in the third round. He recovered just in time for the fight to be stopped a few punches later by a merciful referee.

There are still some voices urging caution about whether Joshua, who now has 18 knockout victories from 18 fights, is the real deal but it is becoming increasingly hard to argue against it, particularly in a heavyweight division as impoverished as this vintage.

The biggest single sporting date in the 2017 calendar will be Joshua's fight with Klitschko

We will find out more when he faces Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29 in what will be one of the biggest and most eagerly anticipated sporting events of 2017.

If Joshua beats Klitschko, who climbed into the ring in Manchester after Joshua's victory to pose for pictures with him, it will be his graduation.

If next year is shaping up to be a momentous one for Andy Murray, as he builds on his world No1 status and the uncertainties in the game of Novak Djokovic, it should also be the year when Joshua arrives as one of the superstars of world sport. 

Sport craves a charismatic, dynamic world heavyweight champion just as it demands a dominant men's 100m champion. It was once sport's blue riband and, even though its prestige has slipped in the public mind in recent years, there is a sense that Joshua has the power to revive it.

Lennox Lewis came out on top in the his sixth-round stoppage of Klitschko back in 2003

For all the brilliance of fighters such as Gennady Golovkin, Andre Ward and Vasyl Lomachenko, the overall popularity of boxing is still guided by the state of the heavyweight division and whether there is a dominant, crowd-pleasing champion in its vanguard. It has not been able to boast that for 30 years.

Lennox Lewis was a brilliant, intelligent fighter who never quite got the credit he deserved and the reputations of the Klitschkos, Wladimir and Vitali, have been burnished by time. But none of them captured the public imagination in the way that, say, Muhammad Ali and Tyson did.

The heavyweight division was similarly moribund when Tyson smashed through it in the mid-Eighties. 

This year marks the 30th anniversary of his fight with Trevor Berbick when, at just 20 years of age, he first won the world title by sending his opponent staggering around the ring like Bambi in the second round.

Joshua can help restore some of boxing's old glamour and glory through his approach to fights