British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to life under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, delivering effective clean blows in a fight where the approaches failed to mesh, with constant grabbing marring the fight.
Two judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts believed Parker, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer suffered the second loss of his 28-match career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Uneventful Encounter
The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the future of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter willing to overcommit in a cagey early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury 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 worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance diminished because of constant clinching, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Fuels All-Manchester Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester battle to win the European light heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the location since Hatton's death. As the final chime disappeared, the stillness transitioned to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition during the bout equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow squarely on the jaw in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the eight count.
But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling developing under his orbital area as the duo traded hard punches.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the intensity seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the verdict with official scores of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, everything their idol Hatton stood for.
