UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling single shots in a match where the techniques didn't complement each other, with excessive holding disrupting the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor stated in the arena as he was met by boos from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers believed Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the contender endured the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Secures Victory in Uneventful Encounter
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He started carefully, with neither fighter willing to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to edge the better stanzas.
The audience's tolerance wore thin because of regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding all-Manchester fight to win the continental championship.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as 10 bells tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in September.
It was the premier televised fight night in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the final chime disappeared, the silence became a roar of "there's just one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring matched the sentiment. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch flush on the chin in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising forming under his eye as the fighters exchanged powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the intensity hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the verdict with judges scorecards of draw, close margin and 115-112, but each competitor were determined and courageous, all the qualities their idol the legend stood for.
