UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output seemingly secured him a majority decision in a tight ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But Parker found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the techniques failed to mesh, with constant grabbing disrupting the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor stated in the ringside as he was faced boos from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers thought the challenger, thirty-one, deserved the win but the British boxer suffered the second loss of his 28-bout professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Triumph in Slow Match
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what feels like a last chance - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a calculated initial rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the better rounds.
The audience's tolerance decreased amid constant clinching, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during close exchanges.
The underdog closed well, but many rounds were hard to judge. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Homage Inspires All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to win the European light-heavyweight belt.
The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving tribute before the fight as ten bells tolled in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.
It was the premier televised fight night in the city since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound faded, the quiet transitioned to a roar of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".
The action inside the ropes matched the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook flush on the face in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his position on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was injured quickly, heavy swelling developing under his face as the fighters exchanged punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor barely secured the verdict with judges scorecards of even score, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were determined and brave, all the qualities their hero Hatton stood for.
