By George Ogier

It was a strange night for three of GB boxing’s Olympic medallists. At various points of the evening we were treated to Luke Campbell, Anthony Joshua and Anthony Ogogo on our TVs and it didn’t go as well as we might have hoped for some of them.

Poor Ogogo was ambushed ringside by Sky Sports and asked for his views on the tussle between Campbell and Yvan Mendy. Showing a generous grasp of scoring, the likes of which may have kept him in Strictly Come Dancing for more than three weeks, Ogogo had his former team mate up by two rounds.

Unfortunately for the Hull lightweight very few people agreed and it came as no surprise when the scores were totted up and a maiden defeat was announced. Fellow gold medallist Anthony Joshua fared much better and after surviving a tumultuous second round knocked out Dillian Whyte in a crunching display of ruthless power.

In victory and defeat both bouts served to uncover previously unseen fallibilities in Campbell and Joshua and the question of expectation became a talking point once more. Are we in Britain too keen to find the next international superstar from these shores and in doing so are we anointing “world level” boxers too quickly?

I have heard a number of figures within the sport suggest before last night that Luke Campbell was already the best lightweight in the UK. Disregarding the fact that he hasn’t fought anyone of note, beyond perhaps Tommy Coyle, it is also disrespectful towards genuine world champions Anthony Crolla and Terry Flanagan. Not to mention British stalwarts Derry Mathews and Ricky Burns.

Similarly, a sizeable crowd are of the opinion that Anthony Joshua would beat Tyson Fury if they fought tomorrow. Last night was the first time that someone has hit “AJ” back in a meaningful way and he wasn’t that far from coming unstuck as a result. Tyson Fury just beat “the man” in heavyweight boxing when nobody gave him a chance. It seems churlish to suggest that Joshua would walk straight through Fury.

Hype is the petrol that drives boxing and ultimately it is as much about sales as it is about sporting achievement. The sport makes its money from the fans in a way that football no longer does. Ticket sales and pay-per-view figures are the lifeblood and for that reason promoters are duty bound to exclaim that each fight is unmissable and vitally important.

For this reason, young fighters with a good degree of raw talent are often put on pedestals which their experience doesn’t necessarily merit. What we’re left with is swathes of fans looking at someone like Luke Campbell after last night and wondering if he’s actually that good after all.

It also has a negative effect on the fighters themselves. If a boxer has spent two or three years fighting lesser known opponents but having people tell him he’s the best thing since sliced bread, if and when he is then beaten it can be an even tougher job to rebuild confidence.

Britain has a number of excellent young fighters coming through the ranks at the moment. The sport is in a boom period as far as talent goes and we as a community have a duty not to place too much pressure on those young men.

Yes, the likes of Campbell, Joshua, Kal Yafai, Callum Smith and Charlie Edwards may all one-day sparkle on the international stage but let’s not convince them that they can run before they can walk.

As a brief aside I wanted to take the time to commend trainer Paschal Collins for pulling Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan out of his fight with Chris Eubank Jr. As the contest progressed it became clear that O’Sullivan had no answer to the onslaught of punches coming at him from all angles. He may well have survived a round or two more but for what purpose, just to take more punishment?

All too often in boxing we see brave corners sending tired and vulnerable fighters back out, round after round just to avoid being called a quitter. As O’Sullivan said, it’s better to cut your losses and live to fight another day. With the safety of all boxers being paramount it would do the sport no harm at all to see more trainers behave as Collins did and we should all take our hats off to him.

George Ogier is a member of Boxing Scene’s UK team. Follow him on Twitter @george_ogier