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UK light-heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing beginning to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close ten-round bout at the Manchester venue.

But Parker found success, connecting with powerful single shots in a fight where the approaches never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the contest.

The officials judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.

"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi said in the ring as he was faced disapproval from the spectators.

The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.

Some ringside observers believed Parker, 31, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second loss of his 28-fight career.

Buatsi Earns Victory in Dull Affair

Buatsi's progress has stalled in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He began cautiously, with both competitors ready to take risks in a calculated initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second bout at light heavyweight.

By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.

The spectators' acceptance decreased because of constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor various instances during grappling.

Parker closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just one round.

The victor progresses, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.

Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels Local Rivalry Battle

In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a outstanding all-Manchester contest to secure the continental championship.

The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells tolled in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.

It was the first major televised boxing event in the city since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the stillness became a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".

The action during the bout matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow directly to the chin in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his position on the count of eight.

But the traditional red equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded powerful shots.

Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace rarely dropped over twelve rounds.

The victor barely secured the result with official scores of draw, narrow lead and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, all the qualities their idol the legend embodied.