UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, delivering effective clean blows in a contest where the styles didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching spoiling the action.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my finest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi said in the ringside as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Secures Victory in Slow Affair
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent years through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the next star of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with both competitors prepared to take risks in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who utilized a solid defense to edge the better periods.
The crowd's patience diminished because of constant clinching, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the likes of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry fight to win the European light-heavyweight belt.
The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.
It was the first major televised match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the silence became a roar of "there's only one Hatton".
The action during the bout matched the emotion. The eventual winner was floored by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, noticeable damage forming under his eye as the fighters traded punishing blows.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the intensity seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor edged the result with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were persistent and brave, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton represented.
