British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, delivering effective single shots in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with constant grabbing disrupting the contest.
Two judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi commented in the ringside as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer suffered the second setback of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Slow Affair
The fighter's advancement has slowed in recent times through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to overcommit in a tentative early stages.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, creating difficulties for the favorite, who utilized a protective stance to edge the cleaner periods.
The crowd's patience decreased because of regular grabbing, with the challenger slipping to the canvas various instances during grappling.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the likes of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Fight
In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding all-Manchester battle to win the European light heavyweight belt.
The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as 10 bells sounded in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the location since Hatton's death. As the final chime ended, the quiet transitioned to a roar of "there's only one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes reflected the emotion. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a left hook flush on the face in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the eight count.
But the red-colored shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo traded hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the decision with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and 115-112, but each competitor were persistent and brave, everything their hero Hatton stood for.
