UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level likely gained him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger found success, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the styles never quite clicked, with frequent clinching disrupting the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They prevail," the victor stated in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to earn a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, deserved the victory but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second setback of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Win in Slow Match
His career development has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with both competitors ready to take risks in a calculated opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had kept it close, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to edge the cleaner stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance diminished during regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
Parker closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Hatton Homage Motivates Manchester Derby Battle
In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester contest to capture the European light-heavyweight championship.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as 10 bells tolled in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised match card in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the silence became a roar of "there's just one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes matched the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the face in the initial stage, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the traditional red attire of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the fighters landed powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but Arthur, 34, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur edged the verdict with judges scorecards of even score, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, exactly what their hero the legend embodied.
