British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the styles never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They win," the victor said in the ring as he was greeted with negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.
Various analysts believed the challenger, 31, merited the victory but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
Buatsi Secures Triumph in Dull Affair
Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through management issues and extended periods of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a cagey opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had made it competitive, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the better rounds.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.
Parker finished the stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Homage Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to secure the continental belt.
The arena fell silent for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the final chime faded, the silence gave way to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring matched the emotion. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch flush on the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the referee's count.
But the traditional red shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, noticeable damage developing under his orbital area as the duo traded powerful shots.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
The victor narrowly won the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, everything their idol the legend embodied.
