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British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming debut to life under recent management with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.

But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a match where the approaches didn't complement each other, with excessive holding marring the fight.

The officials had it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest display but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor commented in the arena as he was met by negative reactions from the spectators.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Various analysts felt Parker, 31, deserved the decision but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Victory in Slow Encounter

The fighter's advancement has slowed in recent times through management issues and long spells of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a last chance - under recent support.

He opened tentatively, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a calculated opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was participating in his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the fight's midpoint, Parker had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who utilized a protective stance to barely take the cleaner periods.

The crowd's patience diminished amid frequent holding, with Parker going down various instances during close exchanges.

Parker finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still seems difficult.

Hatton Homage Inspires Local Rivalry Battle

In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific local rivalry battle to secure the European light-heavyweight belt.

The arena fell silent for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of local hero Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in September.

It was the first major televised boxing event in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".

The fighting within the ring matched the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the count of eight.

But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the duo exchanged powerful shots.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

Arthur edged the result with official scores of 114-114, 115-113 and wider gap, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration the legend represented.