British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming start to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a split decision in a close 10-round fight at the boxing arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the approaches didn't complement each other, with excessive holding marring the action.
Two judges had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Triumph in Slow Affair
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the future of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors prepared to be aggressive in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a tight guard to barely take the better rounds.
The crowd's patience decreased during frequent holding, with Parker going down multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi progresses, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Fuels Manchester Derby Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a terrific all-Manchester fight to win the European light-heavyweight belt.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who died aged 46 in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime ended, the silence became a roar of "only one Hatton".
The fighting during the bout equaled the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch squarely on the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the traditional red shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured soon, noticeable damage appearing under his eye as the fighters exchanged powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
The victor narrowly won the result with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.
