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British light-heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to life under recent management with a unanimous decision over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.

But the challenger found success, delivering effective clean blows in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.

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

"It wasn't my best showing but how do champions respond? They win," the victor commented in the ringside as he was greeted with disapproval from the audience.

The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.

Several boxing experts felt Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the British boxer suffered the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.

The Champion Claims Triumph in Uneventful Encounter

Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.

Previously predicted as the rising talent of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.

He opened tentatively, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a calculated early stages.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.

By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who utilized a solid defense to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.

The audience's tolerance wore thin because of constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor various instances during grappling.

The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were difficult to score. Nevertheless, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.

Hatton Tribute Inspires Manchester Derby Fight

In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a terrific all-Manchester contest to win the European light-heavyweight championship.

The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional homage ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in September.

It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime faded, the stillness became a shout of "there's only one Hatton".

The fighting inside the ropes matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the referee's count.

But the Manchester United-red attire of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, noticeable damage developing under his face as the duo traded hard punches.

The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the intensity seldom decreased over twelve rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the decision with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and clearer margin, but both fighters were determined and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.