British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate likely gained him a judges' verdict in a competitive ten-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger had his moments, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing disrupting the contest.
Two judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but what do champions do? They win," the victor said in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, merited the decision but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Earns Triumph in Slow Affair
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with both competitors willing to take risks in a calculated early stages.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who utilized a tight guard to edge the more effective periods.
The crowd's patience diminished amid regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.
The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder 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 caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Rea by close verdict in a outstanding all-Manchester contest to capture the European light heavyweight belt.
The venue became quiet for a deeply poignant homage ahead of the contest as ten bells tolled in memory of local hero Ricky Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in recently.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's death. As the last bell faded, the silence became a shout of "only one Hatton".
The competition during the bout matched the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook flush on the face in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising appearing under his eye as the fighters landed powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the action seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
The victor narrowly won the decision with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were determined and full of heart, everything their idol the legend embodied.
