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British light heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a majority decision in a competitive ten-round bout at the boxing arena.

But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the styles didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching marring the action.

Two judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.

"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was faced disapproval from the audience.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th career victory.

Various analysts believed Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the victory but the British boxer endured the second defeat of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Earns Victory in Slow Affair

Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent years through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.

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

He started carefully, with the two boxers willing to overcommit in a tentative initial rounds.

The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second fight at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, causing problems for the favorite, who worked behind a tight guard to barely take the cleaner rounds.

The crowd's patience wore thin during constant clinching, with Parker going down several times during grappling.

Parker closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi progresses, but with the likes of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.

Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Contest

In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a outstanding local rivalry contest to capture the European light-heavyweight championship.

The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as ten bells sounded in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in September.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the silence became a chant of "only one Ricky Hatton".

The action inside the ropes reflected the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook squarely on the chin in the second round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the referee's count.

But the Manchester United-red attire of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the pair traded hard punches.

Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.

The victor narrowly won the result with judges scorecards of 114-114, narrow lead and clearer margin, but the two athletes were determined and brave, exactly what their hero the legend represented.