British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive beginning to life under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger landed significant shots, delivering effective individual punches in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with constant grabbing marring the action.
The officials scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor stated in the arena as he was met by boos from the spectators.
The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to earn a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts thought Parker, thirty-one, merited the victory but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
Buatsi Earns Win in Uneventful Match
His career development has stalled in the past few years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Once tipped as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to be aggressive in a tentative initial rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had kept it close, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who worked behind a tight guard to narrowly win the better rounds.
The spectators' acceptance decreased because of regular grabbing, with the challenger slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor progresses, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a terrific local rivalry battle to win the European light heavyweight championship.
The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell faded, the quiet transitioned to a chant of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow directly to the chin in the early round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the count of eight.
But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up early, noticeable damage forming under his orbital area as the pair traded hard punches.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the result with official scores of even score, close margin and clearer margin, but both fighters were determined and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.
