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British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a majority decision in a tight ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.

But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a match where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 for to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest showing but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the crowd.

The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Several boxing experts felt the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-match career.

The Champion Earns Win in Slow Match

Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through management issues and long spells of inactivity.

Once tipped as the future of British boxing, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.

He began cautiously, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a calculated initial rounds.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, Parker had made it competitive, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the more effective rounds.

The spectators' acceptance diminished because of frequent holding, with the challenger going down several times during grappling.

Parker finished the stronger, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.

The victor progresses, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Ricky Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Contest

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the continental title.

The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as ten bells rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.

It was the premier televised fight night in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the silence transitioned to a roar of "there's just one Hatton".

The competition during the bout equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow directly to the chin in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the referee's count.

But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in opposing blue - was damaged soon, significant bruising appearing under his face as the fighters exchanged hard punches.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over twelve rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the verdict with judges scorecards of draw, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were determined and courageous, exactly what their idol the legend embodied.