UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive start to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output likely gained him a majority decision in a close ten-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger found success, delivering effective individual punches in a fight where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching spoiling the contest.
Two judges scored it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest display but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, 31, deserved the decision but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Victory in Slow Affair
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what appears to be a last chance - under fresh management.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers willing to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a solid defense to barely take the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished during regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during clinches.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by divided decision in a outstanding local rivalry battle to capture the continental championship.
The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant memorial before the fight as 10 bells sounded in honor of the city's native Hatton, who died at age 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised match card in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the silence transitioned to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a significant blow directly to the chin in the initial stage, rising shakily to his position on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the pair traded punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor narrowly won the result with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and 115-112, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, everything their inspiration Hatton stood for.
