UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing beginning to life under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level likely gained him a judges' verdict in a tight 10-round contest at the boxing arena.
But Parker found success, connecting with powerful single shots in a match where the techniques didn't complement each other, with excessive holding disrupting the contest.
Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best showing but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.
The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts believed the challenger, thirty-one, merited the win but the British boxer suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Dull Affair
His career development has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He started carefully, with both competitors ready to take risks in a calculated early stages.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience decreased because of frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Motivates All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a terrific local rivalry battle to secure the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional homage ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in honor of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell ended, the quiet became a chant of "there's only one Hatton".
The action within the ring matched the emotion. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a left hook squarely on the chin in the early round, rising shakily to his footing on the referee's count.
But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured early, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded hard punches.
Rea, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the decision with official scores of even score, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration the legend stood for.
