British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round contest at the boxing arena.
But Parker found success, delivering effective individual punches in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with excessive holding disrupting the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi said in the arena as he was faced boos from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-match career.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Affair
Buatsi's progress has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers ready to take risks in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for Buatsi, who utilized a solid defense to barely take the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance wore thin during constant clinching, with Parker going down several times during grappling.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, awarding Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi advances, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester battle to capture the continental belt.
The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant memorial prior to the bout as a bell ceremony rang in honor of local hero Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the quiet became a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition within the ring reflected the emotion. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the face in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his position on the referee's count.
But the traditional red shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up early, significant bruising appearing under his face as the pair traded powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the verdict with official scores of 114-114, close margin and clearer margin, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, everything their inspiration the legend stood for.
