UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful individual punches in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching disrupting the action.
Two judges judged it 96-94 for to the winner, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest display but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor commented in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the audience.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to earn a 20th pro success.
Various analysts believed the challenger, thirty-one, merited the victory but the British boxer endured the second setback of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Uneventful Encounter
Buatsi's progress has stalled in recent years through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - possibly in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.
He started carefully, with both competitors prepared to overcommit in a calculated opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, 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 utilized a solid defense to edge the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience wore thin amid constant clinching, with Parker falling to the floor various instances during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but many rounds were hard to judge. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
The victor progresses, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry contest to capture the European light heavyweight belt.
The arena grew hushed for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as 10 bells rang in memory of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the silence transitioned to a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the emotion. Arthur was floored by a left hook squarely on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the pair traded powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton stood for.
