🔗 Share this article

UK light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a split decision in a competitive ten-round bout at the boxing arena.

But Parker found success, delivering effective clean blows in a match where the approaches didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.

The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.

"It wasn't my finest performance but what defines champions? They win," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.

The British fighter bounced back after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.

Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the win but the contender experienced the second setback of his 28-match career.

Buatsi Secures Triumph in Dull Encounter

The fighter's advancement has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the rising talent of British boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.

He started carefully, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was participating in his second fight at light heavyweight.

By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the cleaner stanzas.

The spectators' acceptance wore thin during constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor various instances during grappling.

The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.

The victor progresses, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still appears challenging.

Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Contest

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry contest to win the European light heavyweight belt.

The stadium fell silent for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in honor of local hero Hatton, who died aged 46 in recently.

It was the premier televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the silence gave way to a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The fighting during the bout equaled the sentiment. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch squarely on the face in the second round, standing uncertainly to his position on the eight count.

But the red-colored attire of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the duo landed punishing blows.

The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over the full distance.

The victor narrowly won the verdict with official scores of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were determined and brave, exactly what their hero the legend represented.