UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming beginning to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling individual punches in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with constant grabbing disrupting the contest.
The officials scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi commented in the ringside as he was greeted with negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt Parker, 31, merited the win but the contender experienced the second loss of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Win in Slow Encounter
His career development has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to overcommit in a calculated opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was participating in his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a protective stance to edge the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance diminished during frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor several times during close exchanges.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Motivates All-Manchester Fight
In the supporting bout, Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a terrific all-Manchester contest to win the European light heavyweight championship.
The stadium became quiet for a deeply poignant tribute before the fight as 10 bells rang in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the quiet gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring reflected the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the jaw in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red attire of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising appearing under his face as the fighters traded hard punches.
Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the result with official scores of even score, close margin and clearer margin, but both fighters were relentless and courageous, everything their hero Hatton represented.
