UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a tight 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the techniques didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor commented in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the audience.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to earn a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Earns Victory in Slow Affair
Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to be aggressive in a calculated opening few rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in two years ago after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance diminished because of constant clinching, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just one round.
The victor progresses, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels Manchester Derby Contest
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent all-Manchester contest to win the European light heavyweight title.
The arena fell silent for a deeply poignant tribute prior to the bout as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the location since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the silence gave way to a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The action inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow squarely on the jaw in the early round, standing uncertainly to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored attire of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the pair landed hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration the legend represented.
