British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to his career under recent management with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a match where the approaches didn't complement each other, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my finest performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor said in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second loss of his 28-fight professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Dull Affair
The fighter's advancement has stalled in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what feels like a last chance - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a calculated initial rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand mid-fight, was making just his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the middle rounds, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to edge the cleaner periods.
The audience's tolerance wore thin during regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but multiple periods were difficult to score. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Tribute Inspires Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a outstanding all-Manchester contest to secure the European light heavyweight title.
The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised fight night in the location since Hatton's passing. As the last bell disappeared, the silence became a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".
The action within the ring reflected the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the eight count.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, Rea - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, noticeable damage appearing under his orbital area as the fighters landed punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the verdict with official scores of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but both fighters were persistent and brave, everything their hero the legend embodied.
