British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing start to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate likely gained him a split decision in a close 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing marring the fight.
The officials judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best display but what defines champions? They prevail," the victor said in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers believed Parker, thirty-one, merited the victory but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Secures Triumph in Dull Match
His career development has plateaued in the past few years through contract problems and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the rising talent of British boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter ready to take risks in a calculated opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience wore thin amid constant clinching, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but many rounds were hard to judge. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Rea by divided decision in a terrific all-Manchester battle to win the European light-heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in memory of local hero Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the last bell ended, the stillness became a roar of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes reflected the sentiment. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch squarely on the jaw in the early round, rising shakily to his position on the referee's count.
But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the duo landed punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, 34, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
Arthur barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, exactly what their hero Hatton stood for.
