British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive beginning to his career under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a split decision in a close 10-round contest at the boxing arena.
But Parker found success, landing some telling clean blows in a contest where the approaches failed to mesh, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Various analysts felt the challenger, thirty-one, merited the victory but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Earns Victory in Uneventful Encounter
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of British boxing, he now stands trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand during the bout, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a tight guard to narrowly win the better rounds.
The spectators' acceptance decreased because of constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Tribute Inspires Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a terrific local rivalry contest to secure the European light-heavyweight belt.
The venue became quiet for a profoundly moving homage before the fight as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who died aged 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the stillness became a roar of "only one Hatton".
The fighting during the bout matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a left hook flush on the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in rival City blue - was damaged soon, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the duo exchanged hard punches.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the action hardly diminished over the full distance.
Arthur barely secured the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, exactly what their idol the legend stood for.
