UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming beginning to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a close ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, landing some telling individual punches in a match where the styles failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They win," the victor commented in the arena as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to earn a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, 31, merited the win but the British boxer suffered the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Claims Victory in Dull Encounter
His career development has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers ready to take risks in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience decreased because of frequent holding, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent all-Manchester fight to capture the European light-heavyweight belt.
The stadium became quiet for a profoundly moving homage before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of local hero Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell disappeared, the quiet gave way to a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the jaw in the early round, rising shakily to his footing on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, noticeable damage forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded punishing blows.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the intensity seldom decreased over the full distance.
The victor narrowly won the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were relentless and full of heart, everything their inspiration Hatton embodied.
