UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, delivering effective clean blows in a match where the styles failed to mesh, with constant grabbing marring the fight.
The officials had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest display but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor said in the ring as he was met by boos from the audience.
The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Encounter
Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the future of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter ready to be aggressive in a cagey opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand during the bout, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished amid frequent holding, with the challenger going down various instances during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Fight
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a outstanding local rivalry battle to win the European light-heavyweight championship.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as a bell ceremony rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound disappeared, the stillness became a roar of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".
The action inside the ropes reflected the feeling. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the chin in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his position on the referee's count.
But the traditional red equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was damaged soon, noticeable damage forming under his orbital area as the fighters landed powerful shots.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the intensity seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the verdict with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were determined and courageous, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton embodied.
