UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful single shots in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the fight.
Two judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest display but what defines champions? They succeed," the victor stated in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the spectators.
The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts believed the challenger, 31, deserved the victory but the contender suffered the second setback of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Earns Triumph in Slow Encounter
His career development has slowed in recent times through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a last chance - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a calculated initial rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was competing in only his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, Parker had kept it close, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to edge the cleaner rounds.
The spectators' acceptance decreased amid constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Homage Motivates All-Manchester Contest
In the supporting bout, Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a terrific all-Manchester fight to win the continental title.
The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage ahead of the contest as ten bells tolled in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the stillness became a roar of "there's only one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes matched the emotion. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the second round, rising shakily to his footing on the referee's count.
But the traditional red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the pair exchanged punishing blows.
The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and clearer margin, but the two athletes were persistent and full of heart, exactly what their idol the legend stood for.
