Underwhelming Joshua Buatsi Outpoints Parker in Manchester Bout

British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive start to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the boxing arena.

But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective clean blows in a fight where the styles never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.

Two judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95.

"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi said in the arena as he was met by disapproval from the audience.

The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.

Various analysts believed the challenger, 31, deserved the victory but the contender suffered the second loss of his 28-bout professional journey.

The Champion Earns Win in Slow Match

The fighter's advancement has stalled in the past few years through contract problems and long spells of lack of fights.

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

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

Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second bout at light heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to edge the cleaner rounds.

The audience's tolerance wore thin amid frequent holding, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during close exchanges.

The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi progresses, but with the presence of power puncher David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still seems difficult.

Hatton Memorial Fuels Local Rivalry Battle

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur defeated Rea by divided decision in a terrific all-Manchester fight to secure the European light-heavyweight belt.

The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in September.

It was the premier televised match card in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound faded, the silence gave way to a shout of "only one Hatton".

The fighting during the bout matched the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a significant blow flush on the jaw in the early round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the count of eight.

But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the pair traded powerful shots.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

The victor edged the result with judges scorecards of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, exactly what their hero Hatton stood for.