British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive beginning to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a match where the approaches failed to mesh, with excessive holding disrupting the contest.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They win," the victor said in the ringside as he was faced disapproval from the audience.
The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Secures Triumph in Uneventful Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what appears to be a last chance - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers prepared to take risks in a calculated initial rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand during the bout, was participating in his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the more effective periods.
The audience's tolerance decreased because of regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during grappling.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Tribute Inspires All-Manchester Contest
In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Rea by close verdict in a excellent local rivalry battle to win the continental title.
The venue fell silent for a profoundly moving tribute before the fight as ten bells tolled in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the last bell faded, the silence transitioned to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes equaled the emotion. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the second round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the count of eight.
But the red-colored shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the duo exchanged punishing blows.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the action rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the result with official scores of 114-114, narrow lead and clearer margin, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, all the qualities their idol the legend represented.
