UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive start to life under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output 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 fight where the styles never quite clicked, with constant grabbing marring the contest.
Two judges had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor commented in the ringside as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the victory but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Earns Win in Dull Match
The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through contract problems and extended periods of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a cagey initial rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished amid regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during close exchanges.
The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Although, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Hatton Homage Fuels Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry battle to secure the continental championship.
The stadium became quiet for a deeply poignant tribute before the fight as ten bells rang in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the last bell faded, the silence gave way to a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The action within the ring reflected the emotion. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the referee's count.
But the traditional red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded punishing blows.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the result with scoring tallies of draw, narrow lead and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and brave, everything their idol the legend embodied.
