British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing 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 likely gained him a majority decision in a close ten-round contest at the boxing arena.
But the challenger found success, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the techniques didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing disrupting the fight.
Two judges judged it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi stated in the ringside as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts believed Parker, 31, deserved the decision but the contender suffered the second loss of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Claims Triumph in Uneventful Affair
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in the past few years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers prepared to take risks in a tentative early stages.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to barely take the cleaner periods.
The spectators' acceptance diminished amid constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas various instances during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were difficult to score. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - commentating on Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Inspires All-Manchester Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry fight to capture the European light-heavyweight belt.
The arena grew hushed for a profoundly moving memorial before the fight as ten bells sounded in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the silence gave way to a roar of "only one Hatton".
The competition within the ring equaled the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the face in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was injured quickly, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the fighters traded punishing blows.
Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the verdict with judges scorecards of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton embodied.
