UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing start to life under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a contest where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.
Two judges scored it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi said in the ring as he was met by boos from the spectators.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.
Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, deserved the win but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second setback of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Secures Triumph in Slow Affair
His career development has stalled in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He began cautiously, with both competitors prepared to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the cleaner stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance wore thin because of regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Rea by divided decision in a outstanding local rivalry fight to secure the European light heavyweight championship.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as 10 bells tolled in memory of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the chin in the early round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in opposing blue - was damaged early, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the pair exchanged powerful shots.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur barely secured the verdict with judges scorecards of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but each competitor were determined and brave, everything their hero Hatton represented.
