British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level likely gained him a majority decision in a close ten-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger had his moments, landing some telling individual punches in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the remaining official a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best showing but what do champions do? They win," the victor said in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, 31, merited the decision but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.
The Champion Secures Win in Uneventful Affair
The fighter's advancement has slowed in recent years through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers prepared to take risks in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience diminished during constant clinching, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi progresses, but with the likes of power puncher David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Hatton Tribute Fuels All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester contest to capture the European light heavyweight championship.
The venue became quiet for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as 10 bells tolled in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the final chime disappeared, the silence became a chant of "only one Hatton".
The action within the ring matched the emotion. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the jaw in the early round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the eight count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising forming under his face as the duo landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor barely secured the result with official scores of even score, close margin and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and brave, exactly what their hero the legend stood for.
