British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level seemingly secured him a split decision in a competitive ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, delivering effective single shots in a fight where the approaches failed to mesh, with excessive holding marring the contest.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest display but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi said in the ring as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts believed Parker, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second loss of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Slow Encounter
His career development has slowed in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the future of UK boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a last chance - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with both competitors willing to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was competing in only his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to barely take the better rounds.
The crowd's patience decreased because of constant clinching, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.
The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. However, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, giving Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of power puncher Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Fuels All-Manchester Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Rea by split-decision in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester fight to secure the continental title.
The arena grew hushed for a extremely emotional tribute before the fight as ten bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the quiet became a chant of "there's only one Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow flush on the chin in the initial stage, rising shakily to his position on the eight count.
But the traditional red attire of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in competitive blue - was damaged soon, noticeable damage appearing under his face as the pair traded hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur narrowly won the decision with judges scorecards of draw, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were persistent and brave, all the qualities their inspiration the legend embodied.
