UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output likely gained him a majority decision in a tight ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger had his moments, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the approaches failed to mesh, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.
Two judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi said in the ringside as he was met by boos from the audience.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.
Various analysts thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the victory but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-match career.
The Champion Earns Win in Dull Affair
His career development has plateaued in recent times through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Once tipped as the future of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a last chance - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with both competitors prepared to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience decreased during regular grabbing, with Parker going down various instances during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but multiple periods were difficult to score. However, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a outstanding local rivalry contest to capture the continental belt.
The arena grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as a bell ceremony rang in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died aged 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the stillness transitioned to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes matched the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the eight count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his eye as the pair traded punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur narrowly won the decision with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, exactly what their inspiration the legend embodied.
