British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive start to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a majority decision in a tight 10-round fight at the boxing arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the approaches failed to mesh, with excessive holding marring the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the crowd.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to earn a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts felt Parker, 31, merited the victory but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
Buatsi Secures Win in Uneventful Affair
His career development has plateaued in the past few years through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the cleaner periods.
The audience's tolerance wore thin during regular grabbing, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during clinches.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Homage Inspires Manchester Derby Battle
In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester battle to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as ten bells rang in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the face in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.
But the red-colored attire of the fighter soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged soon, significant bruising appearing under his orbital area as the fighters traded punishing blows.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the action seldom decreased over the full distance.
Arthur barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but the two athletes were persistent and courageous, exactly what their inspiration Hatton stood for.
