UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a close ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the fight.
Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my best showing but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor stated in the arena as he was met by boos from the spectators.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th career victory.
Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer suffered the second loss of his 28-match career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Slow Encounter
His career development has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He started carefully, with the two boxers ready to take risks in a tentative early stages.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a solid defense to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The crowd's patience decreased amid regular grabbing, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.
The underdog ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the likes of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Homage Motivates Local Rivalry Contest
In the co-main event, Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by close verdict in a terrific local rivalry battle to secure the continental championship.
The venue became quiet for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as 10 bells tolled in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in September.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the silence gave way to a chant of "only one Hatton".
The fighting during the bout matched the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the initial stage, rising shakily to his position on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded powerful shots.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the result with judges scorecards of even score, 115-113 and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, all the qualities their hero Hatton stood for.
