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UK light-heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output likely gained him a split decision in a close ten-round contest at the Manchester venue.

But Parker found success, delivering effective individual punches in a fight where the styles didn't complement each other, with excessive holding spoiling the contest.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95.

"It wasn't my finest display but what defines champions? They succeed," the victor said in the arena as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.

The Londoner bounced back after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th career victory.

Several boxing experts thought the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the win but the British boxer suffered the second setback of his 28-match professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Win in Uneventful Affair

Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through management issues and long spells of lack of fights.

Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.

He started carefully, with both competitors prepared to be aggressive in a calculated initial rounds.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was making just his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to edge the more effective stanzas.

The crowd's patience diminished because of regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.

Parker closed well, but many rounds were hard to judge. Although, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just one round.

The victor advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Fight

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry battle to win the continental championship.

The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells tolled in honor of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.

It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the location since Hatton's death. As the final chime disappeared, the silence transitioned to a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition during the bout equaled the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch squarely on the chin in the second round, standing uncertainly to his position on the count of eight.

But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged soon, heavy swelling forming under his face as the pair exchanged hard punches.

The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over twelve rounds.

The victor edged the verdict with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but each competitor were determined and courageous, exactly what their inspiration the legend embodied.