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British light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker found success, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.

The scoring judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a even score.

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi said in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the audience.

The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Some ringside observers believed the challenger, 31, deserved the victory but the contender suffered the second loss of his 28-match career.

Buatsi Earns Win in Uneventful Encounter

His career development has stalled in recent years through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the future of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a last chance - under new promotional backing.

He started carefully, with both competitors ready to overcommit in a cagey early stages.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to narrowly win the better rounds.

The crowd's patience diminished during regular grabbing, with the challenger going down various instances during close exchanges.

The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi advances, but with the presence of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Battle

In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent all-Manchester contest to capture the European light heavyweight title.

The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant memorial prior to the bout as ten bells rang in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in September.

It was the first major televised match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the silence gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The fighting inside the ropes matched the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the chin in the initial stage, rising shakily to his footing on the count of eight.

But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was damaged soon, significant bruising forming under his eye as the pair exchanged powerful shots.

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.

The victor barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and full of heart, all the qualities their hero Hatton stood for.