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

The Olympic medal winner's activity level seemingly secured him a split decision in a tight ten-round fight at the Manchester venue.

But Parker found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the fight.

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

"It wasn't my best showing but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor commented in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the audience.

The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.

Various analysts felt the challenger, thirty-one, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second loss of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Encounter

His career development has plateaued in recent years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.

Once tipped as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.

He opened tentatively, with neither fighter willing to be aggressive in a cagey opening few rounds.

Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand during the bout, was making just his second bout at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who utilized a solid defense to edge the better stanzas.

The audience's tolerance wore thin during regular grabbing, with Parker going down several times during grappling.

Parker ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Hatton Memorial Motivates Manchester Derby Fight

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a outstanding all-Manchester battle to capture the continental title.

The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in honor of Manchester's own Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in September.

It was the premier televised match card in the location since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound ended, the stillness transitioned to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".

The action during the bout matched the emotion. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow squarely on the face in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his footing on the referee's count.

But the red-colored equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up early, significant bruising appearing under his orbital area as the pair landed punishing blows.

The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, exactly what their idol the legend embodied.