British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to life under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But Parker found success, connecting with powerful single shots in a fight where the styles failed to mesh, with excessive holding marring the contest.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor stated in the ring as he was met by disapproval from the audience.
The Londoner bounced back after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Victory in Uneventful Affair
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with both competitors prepared to take risks in a calculated opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a tight guard to narrowly win the more effective rounds.
The crowd's patience decreased because of frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor progresses, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires All-Manchester Contest
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester fight to win the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound ended, the silence gave way to a roar of "there's just one Hatton".
The action within the ring matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the initial stage, rising shakily to his feet on the eight count.
But the traditional red equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, noticeable damage developing under his orbital area as the pair landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the decision with official scores of draw, narrow lead and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their idol Hatton represented.
