British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to life under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a match where the approaches failed to mesh, with excessive holding spoiling the contest.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my best showing but what defines champions? They win," the victor commented in the ringside as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts believed Parker, thirty-one, merited the win but the British boxer endured the second defeat of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Earns Win in Uneventful Match
His career development has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what seems like a last chance - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers prepared to take risks in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, causing problems for the favorite, who utilized a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance wore thin during frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor progresses, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Manchester Derby Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the European light heavyweight belt.
The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant memorial before the fight as 10 bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in September.
It was the premier televised match card in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the quiet transitioned to a chant of "there's only one Hatton".
The action during the bout matched the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook directly to the chin in the early round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the fighters traded hard punches.
Rea, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the action rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the result with official scores of draw, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.
