UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But Parker had his moments, delivering effective single shots in a contest where the styles never quite clicked, with excessive holding marring the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my finest display but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor said in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, merited the win but the contender suffered the second setback of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Earns Victory in Slow Match
The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.
He started carefully, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a cagey early stages.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a solid defense to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience diminished during regular grabbing, with Parker going down multiple occasions during clinches.
Parker closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Fuels All-Manchester Fight
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester battle to capture the continental championship.
The arena grew hushed for a profoundly moving memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells tolled in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised match card in the location since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound faded, the stillness became a roar of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured soon, significant bruising developing under his face as the pair exchanged powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the intensity hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor edged the decision with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and brave, exactly what their inspiration the legend represented.
