British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output likely gained him a split decision in a competitive 10-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective single shots in a match where the styles failed to mesh, with constant grabbing marring the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best performance but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi said in the arena as he was faced boos from the spectators.
The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts believed Parker, thirty-one, merited the win but the British boxer endured the second loss of his 28-fight professional journey.
The Champion Earns Victory in Dull Match
Buatsi's progress has stalled in recent times through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the future of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He started carefully, with the two boxers willing to overcommit in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after breaking his hand during the bout, was participating in his second appearance at light heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to barely take the cleaner periods.
The audience's tolerance diminished because of regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during close exchanges.
Parker closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Battle
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a excellent local rivalry battle to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The stadium fell silent for a deeply poignant tribute ahead of the contest as 10 bells rang in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.
It was the premier televised match card in the location since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound ended, the quiet gave way to a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition within the ring equaled the emotion. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the chin in the second round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the referee's count.
But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo traded hard punches.
Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were determined and courageous, exactly what their inspiration the legend stood for.
