British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive debut to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a tight ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective clean blows in a contest where the techniques didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing marring the contest.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor said in the arena as he was met by disapproval from the spectators.
The Londoner bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the win but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second loss of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Encounter
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was competing in only his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The audience's tolerance decreased during constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.
Parker finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry contest to secure the continental championship.
The stadium became quiet for a extremely emotional tribute before the fight as 10 bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised fight night in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the silence transitioned to a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition within the ring matched the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the face in the early round, standing uncertainly to his position on the referee's count.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up early, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the pair traded punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the result with judges scorecards of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and brave, exactly what their inspiration Hatton represented.
