UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a competitive ten-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, delivering effective clean blows in a fight where the techniques didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing marring the fight.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor commented in the arena as he was greeted with disapproval from the spectators.
The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts believed Parker, 31, deserved the victory but the contender endured the second setback of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Secures Victory in Uneventful Affair
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a cagey initial rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand during the bout, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the better rounds.
The crowd's patience wore thin during frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during close exchanges.
The underdog closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. However, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by close verdict in a outstanding local rivalry fight to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as 10 bells tolled in honor of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime ended, the stillness transitioned to a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring reflected the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the chin in the early round, rising shakily to his position on the referee's count.
But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured quickly, noticeable damage appearing under his eye as the fighters landed powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the verdict with official scores of draw, narrow lead and clearer margin, but the two athletes were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their hero Hatton stood for.
