British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive start to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the styles didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing spoiling the fight.
The officials had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor said in the arena as he was faced negative reactions from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts believed the challenger, 31, merited the victory but the contender suffered the second loss of his 28-match career.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Match
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.
He started carefully, with both competitors ready to take risks in a tentative initial rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to barely take the more effective periods.
The crowd's patience decreased amid frequent holding, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. However, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Tribute Fuels Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the continental belt.
The venue fell silent for a profoundly moving memorial before the fight as ten bells tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the silence became a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes reflected the feeling. Arthur was floored by a significant blow squarely on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his face as the pair landed punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the result with official scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and brave, exactly what their hero the legend stood for.
