British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close 10-round contest at the boxing arena.
But Parker found success, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the approaches didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the action.
The officials scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best performance but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor said in the arena as he was greeted with boos from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts believed the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer endured the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Triumph in Uneventful Encounter
His career development has stalled in the past few years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a calculated opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a tight guard to barely take the better periods.
The spectators' acceptance decreased amid regular grabbing, with Parker falling to the floor various instances during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Hatton Homage Motivates Manchester Derby Battle
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a outstanding all-Manchester battle to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The arena grew hushed for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in September.
It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet became a shout of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook flush on the face in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the traditional red equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo landed punishing blows.
The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the verdict with scoring tallies of draw, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and brave, everything their hero the legend stood for.
