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British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.

But the challenger found success, delivering effective individual punches in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with constant grabbing disrupting the contest.

The officials scored it 96-94 for to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.

"It wasn't my greatest performance but how do champions respond? They win," the victor stated in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the audience.

The British fighter returned to winning ways after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to secure a 20th pro success.

Some ringside observers felt the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout career.

The Champion Earns Win in Slow Match

Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through management issues and extended periods of inactivity.

Previously predicted as the rising talent of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He started carefully, with neither fighter willing to take risks in a tentative early stages.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was participating in his second appearance at light heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a tight guard to narrowly win the better rounds.

The crowd's patience decreased because of frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during close exchanges.

The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.

The victor advances, but with the likes of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.

Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Fight

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester fight to capture the European light-heavyweight title.

The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving tribute ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.

It was the first major televised fight night in the location since Hatton's passing. As the final chime disappeared, the silence transitioned to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".

The action during the bout equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook directly to the chin in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the eight count.

But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up early, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the duo landed punishing blows.

Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over the full distance.

The victor barely secured the result with official scores of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton represented.