British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger landed significant shots, delivering effective clean blows in a match where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching spoiling the fight.
Two judges had it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," the victor said in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th career victory.
Various analysts believed the challenger, 31, merited the win but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second setback of his 28-fight professional journey.
The Champion Secures Victory in Dull Match
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had made it competitive, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a tight guard to edge the better rounds.
The audience's tolerance diminished amid frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during close exchanges.
The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
The victor progresses, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as ten bells rang in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in September.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound faded, the silence gave way to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring matched the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch squarely on the jaw in the initial stage, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the traditional red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling developing under his face as the pair landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the result with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and 115-112, but the two athletes were relentless and brave, all the qualities their idol the legend represented.
