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UK light heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate likely gained him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round bout at the boxing arena.

But the challenger found success, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the approaches didn't complement each other, with excessive holding spoiling the action.

Two judges judged it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the remaining official a even score.

"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They win," the victor stated in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.

The Londoner bounced back after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th career victory.

Some ringside observers believed Parker, thirty-one, deserved the victory but the contender endured the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Triumph in Slow Affair

His career development has plateaued in recent times through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what feels like a last chance - under fresh management.

He started carefully, with neither fighter ready to overcommit in a calculated opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the better periods.

The crowd's patience decreased because of constant clinching, with Parker going down several times during close exchanges.

Parker finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.

The victor progresses, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.

Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Battle

In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Rea by close verdict in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester contest to capture the continental title.

The venue became quiet for a deeply poignant memorial prior to the bout as 10 bells sounded in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.

It was the premier televised fight night in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the stillness became a shout of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition within the ring reflected the emotion. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the eight count.

But the traditional red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured soon, noticeable damage appearing under his eye as the duo traded hard punches.

The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.

Arthur edged the decision with official scores of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but each competitor were relentless and brave, exactly what their idol the legend represented.