British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level likely gained him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling individual punches in a match where the techniques didn't complement each other, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but what defines champions? They succeed," Buatsi said in the ring as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.
Various analysts thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second loss of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Dull Match
Buatsi's progress has stalled in recent years through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers prepared to take risks in a tentative early stages.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who utilized a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective rounds.
The audience's tolerance decreased because of regular grabbing, with Parker going down several times during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Homage Motivates Manchester Derby Contest
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur defeated Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to win the continental championship.
The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as 10 bells rang in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in September.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime ended, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition within the ring equaled the emotion. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch flush on the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising appearing under his face as the duo landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were determined and full of heart, everything their inspiration the legend embodied.
