British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to life under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output likely gained him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the contest.
The officials scored it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers believed the challenger, 31, merited the victory but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second loss of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Claims Triumph in Uneventful Encounter
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of UK boxing, he now stands trying to realize his potential - possibly in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He started carefully, with the two boxers ready to overcommit in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was participating in his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had made it competitive, making life awkward for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to barely take the better rounds.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with the challenger going down multiple occasions during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry fight to capture the European light-heavyweight championship.
The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving memorial prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in honor of local hero Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the final chime ended, the stillness gave way to a roar of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting during the bout matched the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the early round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red attire of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, Rea - in opposing blue - was injured early, significant bruising forming under his eye as the pair landed powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the intensity seldom decreased over the full distance.
The victor narrowly won the decision with official scores of draw, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and brave, everything their idol the legend embodied.
