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UK light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level likely gained him a split decision in a close 10-round contest at the boxing arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling single shots in a contest where the approaches failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the contest.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest display but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi said in the ring as he was met by boos from the audience.

The Londoner bounced back after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.

Some ringside observers felt the challenger, 31, merited the victory but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Victory in Dull Affair

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

Earlier forecast as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He opened tentatively, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a calculated early stages.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.

By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.

The crowd's patience diminished because of regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during close exchanges.

The underdog finished the stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi advances, but with the likes of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.

Hatton Homage Motivates Manchester Derby Contest

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester contest to capture the European light-heavyweight belt.

The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony rang in honor of the city's native Hatton, who died 46 years old in last month.

It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the quiet gave way to a chant of "there's only one Hatton".

The fighting inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the face in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.

But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged quickly, significant bruising appearing under his eye as the pair traded hard punches.

Rea, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the decision with official scores of 114-114, narrow lead and clearer margin, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, all the qualities their inspiration the legend stood for.