British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing start to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a competitive ten-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with excessive holding disrupting the fight.
Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was met by boos from the crowd.
The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer experienced the second setback of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Slow Affair
His career development has plateaued in recent years through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter ready to be aggressive in a cagey initial rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to edge the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience wore thin amid constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during clinches.
Parker finished the stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. Although, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
The victor progresses, but with the presence of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime ended, the quiet gave way to a chant of "there's just one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes matched the emotion. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged early, significant bruising developing under his eye as the pair exchanged punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of even score, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, everything their hero the legend represented.
