British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the boxing arena.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful single shots in a match where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching disrupting the contest.
Two judges had it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best display but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor commented in the ringside as he was faced disapproval from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, 31, deserved the victory but the British boxer suffered the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Victory in Slow Encounter
His career development has stalled in recent times through contract problems and extended periods of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with both competitors willing to take risks in a tentative early stages.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a protective stance to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished because of frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi progresses, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels Local Rivalry Fight
In the co-main event, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a excellent all-Manchester battle to win the European light heavyweight title.
The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound disappeared, the silence gave way to a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting during the bout equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow squarely on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the eight count.
But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the duo exchanged hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
Arthur barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of even score, 115-113 and clearer margin, but both fighters were relentless and brave, exactly what their inspiration the legend represented.
