UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive debut to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a majority decision in a tight 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, landing some telling single shots in a match where the styles never quite clicked, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but what defines champions? They succeed," the victor commented in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to earn a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers believed Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Claims Win in Dull Affair
His career development has plateaued in recent times through management issues and extended periods of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.
He started carefully, with neither fighter willing to take risks in a cagey initial rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to edge the better periods.
The audience's tolerance decreased amid frequent holding, with Parker going down various instances during grappling.
Parker finished the stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi advances, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Manchester Derby Contest
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent local rivalry fight to capture the European light heavyweight championship.
The venue became quiet for a profoundly moving tribute ahead of the contest as ten bells rang in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet became a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook directly to the chin in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the eight count.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, noticeable damage appearing under his orbital area as the pair landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over the full distance.
Arthur narrowly won the verdict with official scores of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration the legend represented.
