British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive beginning to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate likely gained him a split decision in a tight ten-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the approaches failed to mesh, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
Two judges judged it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the remaining official a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi said in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner bounced back after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to earn a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts believed Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer experienced the second setback of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Earns Victory in Uneventful Encounter
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through management issues and extended periods of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the future of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.
He started carefully, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who utilized a solid defense to narrowly win the better periods.
The audience's tolerance wore thin because of regular grabbing, with the challenger going down various instances during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but multiple periods were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
The victor advances, but with the likes of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Fuels All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur overcame Rea by close verdict in a excellent local rivalry fight to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving homage prior to the bout as a bell ceremony sounded in memory of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound ended, the quiet became a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition within the ring equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow directly to the chin in the second round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising appearing under his orbital area as the pair landed punishing blows.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor narrowly won the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their hero the legend represented.
