UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming debut to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful clean blows in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with frequent clinching spoiling the action.
The officials scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They prevail," Buatsi said in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Various analysts felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.
The Champion Secures Victory in Uneventful Affair
His career development has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and extended periods of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.
He started carefully, with both competitors ready 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 mid-fight, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a tight guard to edge the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Inspires All-Manchester Battle
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to win the European light heavyweight belt.
The stadium became quiet for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the premier televised fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime ended, the stillness transitioned to a roar of "there's just one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook flush on the chin in the second round, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.
But the red-colored attire of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the fighters exchanged hard punches.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the verdict with judges scorecards of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and courageous, exactly what their inspiration Hatton represented.
