British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to life under recent management with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a split decision in a competitive 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the techniques didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching spoiling the contest.
The officials scored it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor stated in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the spectators.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts thought Parker, 31, deserved the victory but the contender suffered the second setback of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Secures Triumph in Dull Encounter
Buatsi's progress has stalled in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a last chance - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter willing to take risks in a calculated early stages.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand during the bout, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the middle rounds, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a protective stance to barely take the more effective stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance diminished during constant clinching, with the challenger going down various instances during grappling.
The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Although, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Inspires All-Manchester Contest
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur defeated Rea by divided decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester fight to win the European light-heavyweight belt.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the premier televised match card in the location since Hatton's passing. As the last bell faded, the stillness gave way to a chant of "only one Hatton".
The competition within the ring matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a left hook directly to the face in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured soon, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the duo traded punishing blows.
Rea, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the result with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their hero the legend stood for.
