British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming beginning to his career under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate likely gained him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker found success, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with frequent clinching spoiling the contest.
The officials scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor stated in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the audience.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, 31, deserved the victory but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Secures Win in Slow Match
Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a calculated initial rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who utilized a tight guard to barely take the more effective periods.
The crowd's patience wore thin because of regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to secure the European light heavyweight championship.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as 10 bells sounded in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died aged 46 in September.
It was the premier televised match card in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the quiet gave way to a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook flush on the chin in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his position on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo landed powerful shots.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the verdict with official scores of draw, narrow lead and clearer margin, but each competitor were relentless and brave, all the qualities their hero Hatton embodied.
