UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing start to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive ten-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, delivering effective individual punches in a fight where the styles never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the contest.
The officials had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my finest showing but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was met by negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to earn a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts thought the challenger, 31, merited the decision but the contender suffered the second loss of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Slow Match
Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent times through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - possibly in what appears to be a last chance - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with both competitors ready to be aggressive in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was making just his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for the favorite, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the better periods.
The crowd's patience decreased amid constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
The underdog finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent local rivalry battle to capture the European light heavyweight belt.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of local hero Ricky Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised fight night in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet became a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The action within the ring reflected the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook directly to the jaw in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his feet on the referee's count.
But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the pair landed punishing blows.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace seldom decreased over the full distance.
The victor barely secured the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, exactly what their inspiration the legend embodied.
