British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive debut to his career under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful single shots in a contest where the approaches failed to mesh, with excessive holding disrupting the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest display but what defines champions? They win," the victor said in the arena as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the contender experienced the second setback of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Earns Win in Dull Match
His career development has slowed in the past few years through management issues and extended periods of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to edge the more effective rounds.
The audience's tolerance wore thin because of constant clinching, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent all-Manchester fight to capture the continental championship.
The stadium fell silent for a profoundly moving memorial before the fight as ten bells sounded in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell faded, the silence became a roar of "only one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a powerful punch directly to the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.
But the traditional red attire of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, noticeable damage developing under his eye as the pair exchanged hard punches.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the decision with official scores of even score, close margin and clearer margin, but both fighters were persistent and brave, exactly what their idol the legend embodied.
