UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming beginning to life under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, delivering effective clean blows in a match where the approaches never quite clicked, with excessive holding marring the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest display but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor commented in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the audience.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer endured the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Secures Win in Slow Match
His career development has slowed in recent times through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience decreased amid frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor several times during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Ricky Hatton Tribute Inspires All-Manchester Battle
In the secondary fight, Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by close verdict in a outstanding local rivalry fight to secure the European light-heavyweight championship.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as 10 bells sounded in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the location since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the silence gave way to a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The action inside the ropes reflected the emotion. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch directly to the face in the second round, standing uncertainly to his position on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red attire of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, Rea - in rival City blue - was damaged early, noticeable damage appearing under his eye as the pair landed hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of even score, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were determined and full of heart, all the qualities their idol Hatton embodied.
