British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate likely gained him a majority decision in a tight 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective individual punches in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with excessive holding disrupting the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my finest display but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor commented in the arena as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts thought Parker, 31, deserved the win but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Claims Win in Uneventful Encounter
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through contract problems and extended periods of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the rising talent of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter willing to be aggressive in a cagey early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand during the bout, was making just his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to narrowly win the cleaner periods.
The audience's tolerance diminished during regular grabbing, with the challenger going down various instances during close exchanges.
Parker finished the stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Hatton Tribute Fuels All-Manchester Battle
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as a bell ceremony tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised fight night in the location since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound faded, the quiet gave way to a roar of "only one Hatton".
The competition during the bout reflected the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow directly to the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red attire of the fighter soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising developing under his face as the pair exchanged powerful shots.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
The victor edged the decision with judges scorecards of 114-114, narrow lead and wider gap, but the two athletes were relentless and brave, exactly what their hero the legend stood for.
