UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing start to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful single shots in a contest where the styles didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," the victor stated in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.
The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
The Champion Claims Triumph in Dull Encounter
Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent times through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to edge the cleaner periods.
The crowd's patience diminished amid regular grabbing, with Parker falling to the floor several times during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry contest to secure the continental belt.
The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as ten bells sounded in honor of local hero Hatton, who died 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the quiet became a chant of "only one Hatton".
The competition during the bout equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook directly to the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, noticeable damage forming under his eye as the fighters landed punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the intensity rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur barely secured the decision with judges scorecards of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their hero Hatton embodied.
