British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive start to life under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a tight 10-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the approaches didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching marring the action.
The officials had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.
Various analysts believed Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-bout professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Win in Dull Encounter
The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through management issues and extended periods of inactivity.
Once tipped as the rising talent of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter ready to overcommit in a cagey initial rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had kept it close, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to barely take the cleaner periods.
The crowd's patience decreased during constant clinching, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.
The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the likes of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Contest
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent all-Manchester battle to win the continental title.
The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as ten bells sounded in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell disappeared, the stillness became a roar of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.
But the red-colored attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the fighters exchanged hard punches.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the action hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the decision with official scores of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, all the qualities their hero Hatton embodied.
