British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger had his moments, connecting with powerful clean blows in a contest where the styles failed to mesh, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
The officials judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.
The Londoner bounced back after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts thought the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer endured the second setback of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Secures Win in Uneventful Match
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent years through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - perhaps in what appears to be a last chance - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to take risks in a tentative early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was participating in his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had made it competitive, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to barely take the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance wore thin because of frequent holding, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Although, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by split-decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound disappeared, the stillness gave way to a chant of "there's only one Hatton".
The competition during the bout matched the feeling. Arthur was floored by a left hook squarely on the jaw in the early round, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured soon, significant bruising appearing under his face as the pair exchanged punishing blows.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
Arthur edged the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and clearer margin, but the two athletes were persistent and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration the legend represented.
