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British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming start to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, delivering effective clean blows in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the contest.

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

"It wasn't my finest showing but what defines champions? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was greeted with disapproval from the spectators.

The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a twentieth professional win.

Some ringside observers believed the challenger, 31, deserved the decision but the contender endured the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.

The Champion Claims Triumph in Uneventful Encounter

Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.

Earlier forecast as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what feels like a last chance - under new promotional backing.

He began cautiously, with both competitors willing to be aggressive in a tentative initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was competing in only his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the fight's midpoint, Parker had kept it close, creating difficulties for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the better periods.

The spectators' acceptance diminished because of frequent holding, with Parker going down multiple occasions during clinches.

The underdog ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.

The victor advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.

Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Fight

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a outstanding local rivalry battle to capture the European light heavyweight title.

The venue grew hushed for a profoundly moving homage before the fight as ten bells rang in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in September.

It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell ended, the quiet transitioned to a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".

The action inside the ropes equaled the emotion. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch squarely on the face in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.

But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling developing under his orbital area as the fighters traded punishing blows.

The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the action rarely dropped over the full distance.

Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and courageous, all the qualities their hero Hatton stood for.