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UK light heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming beginning to life under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.

But the challenger found success, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the action.

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

"It wasn't my best display but what defines champions? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.

The Londoner bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th career victory.

Several boxing experts thought Parker, 31, merited the victory but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.

Buatsi Claims Triumph in Dull Encounter

His career development has stalled in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of lack of fights.

Earlier forecast as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.

He started carefully, with neither fighter willing to take risks in a cagey opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was competing in only his second fight at light heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who utilized a tight guard to edge the cleaner rounds.

The spectators' acceptance wore thin because of frequent holding, with the challenger slipping to the canvas various instances during grappling.

Parker closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.

The victor moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Contest

In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester fight to capture the European light heavyweight title.

The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as ten bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.

It was the first major televised match card in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the silence transitioned to a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The action within the ring equaled the emotion. Arthur was floored by a left hook flush on the jaw in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the count of eight.

But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in rival City blue - was damaged early, noticeable damage appearing under his face as the fighters traded punishing blows.

The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over 12 rounds.

Arthur barely secured the decision with judges scorecards of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were relentless and courageous, exactly what their idol the legend represented.