British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet disappointing start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a split decision in a competitive 10-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a match 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 even score.
"It wasn't my greatest display but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor commented in the ring as he was greeted with negative reactions from the audience.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers thought the challenger, 31, deserved the win but the British boxer suffered the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Earns Triumph in Uneventful Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to take risks in a tentative opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished because of constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just one round.
The victor moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Homage Fuels Local Rivalry Contest
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry contest to capture the European light heavyweight championship.
The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving homage prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in memory of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound faded, the stillness transitioned to a roar of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The action within the ring matched the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a significant blow flush on the chin in the early round, rising shakily to his position on the eight count.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged early, heavy swelling forming under his face as the pair exchanged hard punches.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the intensity seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor barely secured the verdict with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and wider gap, but the two athletes were determined and full of heart, everything their idol the legend represented.
