UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive start to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level likely gained him a majority decision in a close ten-round fight at the boxing arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the ringside as he was met by disapproval from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to earn a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts felt Parker, thirty-one, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Claims Triumph in Dull Match
His career development has plateaued in recent times through promotional disputes and extended periods of inactivity.
Once tipped as the rising talent of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective periods.
The crowd's patience decreased during constant clinching, with Parker going down several times during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Homage Fuels Local Rivalry Contest
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry contest to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The stadium grew hushed for a extremely emotional tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony sounded in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in September.
It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound disappeared, the stillness became a roar of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook directly to the chin in the initial stage, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up early, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor narrowly won the verdict with scoring tallies of draw, 115-113 and wider gap, but both fighters were determined and full of heart, exactly what their hero the legend represented.
