UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a close 10-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But Parker found success, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the styles failed to mesh, with excessive holding disrupting the fight.
The officials had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the audience.
The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers felt the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Uneventful Encounter
His career development has plateaued in recent years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was competing in only his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to edge the better periods.
The crowd's patience diminished during regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.
The victor progresses, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry fight to win the European light heavyweight championship.
The venue became quiet for a profoundly moving tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime disappeared, the quiet transitioned to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting during the bout matched the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook directly to the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in competitive blue - was injured early, heavy swelling developing under his orbital area as the pair exchanged hard punches.
The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
The victor edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and courageous, exactly what their idol the legend represented.
