British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level likely gained him a split decision in a tight ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the techniques failed to mesh, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi said in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, thirty-one, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second setback of his 28-match career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Uneventful Match
The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through contract problems and extended periods of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with both competitors prepared to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to barely take the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during clinches.
The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Homage Inspires Manchester Derby Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester fight to win the continental championship.
The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of local hero Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.
It was the premier televised fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell ended, the silence became a roar of "only one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring matched the feeling. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was injured soon, heavy swelling forming under his eye as the fighters landed powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with powerful upward punches as the action seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the result with official scores of draw, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were determined and courageous, everything their inspiration the legend stood for.
