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UK light-heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic medal winner's activity level likely gained him a split decision in a close 10-round fight at the boxing arena.

But the challenger had his moments, landing some telling single shots in a match where the styles failed to mesh, with frequent clinching spoiling the action.

The scoring judges scored it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.

"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was greeted with boos from the audience.

The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.

Several boxing experts thought the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the contender endured the second setback of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Earns Victory in Slow Match

Buatsi's progress has stalled in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.

He opened tentatively, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a cagey initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at the higher weight class.

By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the better stanzas.

The audience's tolerance wore thin because of frequent holding, with the challenger falling to the floor various instances during close exchanges.

The underdog ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Although, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi moves on, but with the likes of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still looks steep.

Hatton Tribute Fuels All-Manchester Fight

In the supporting bout, Arthur overcame Rea by close verdict in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester battle to capture the European light-heavyweight championship.

The arena grew hushed for a extremely emotional homage ahead of the contest as ten bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in recently.

It was the premier televised fight night in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the final chime faded, the quiet transitioned to a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition inside the ropes reflected the sentiment. Arthur was floored by a significant blow directly to the chin in the second round, rising shakily to his feet on the eight count.

But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up early, noticeable damage appearing under his orbital area as the fighters traded hard punches.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the action hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

The victor barely secured the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but the two athletes were determined and courageous, all the qualities their idol Hatton represented.