UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a split decision in a tight ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective clean blows in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with constant grabbing disrupting the fight.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest display but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor stated in the ring as he was faced disapproval from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts believed the challenger, thirty-one, deserved the win but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Match
His career development has stalled in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Once tipped as the rising talent of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a tentative opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance decreased amid frequent holding, with Parker going down multiple occasions during grappling.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor advances, but with the caliber of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Battle
In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a terrific all-Manchester contest to win the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in memory of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the location since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition during the bout reflected the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the face in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the eight count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the duo landed powerful shots.
The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
The victor edged the verdict with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and wider gap, but each competitor were determined and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton stood for.
