British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, delivering effective individual punches in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt the challenger, thirty-one, merited the win but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second setback of his 28-bout career.
Buatsi Secures Win in Slow Affair
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with neither fighter prepared to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who utilized a tight guard to barely take the more effective rounds.
The audience's tolerance wore thin amid regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during clinches.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi progresses, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Manchester Derby Battle
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the continental championship.
The stadium grew hushed for a deeply poignant homage prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died at age 46 in September.
It was the first major televised match card in the location since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet gave way to a chant of "there's just one Hatton".
The action during the bout reflected the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the second round, rising shakily to his footing on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, noticeable damage forming under his face as the pair traded hard punches.
Rea, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the result with judges scorecards of even score, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and brave, exactly what their idol Hatton stood for.
