🔗 Share this article

British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing debut to his career under recent management with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker had his moments, delivering effective single shots in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing disrupting the fight.

Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.

"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor commented in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.

The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.

Various analysts felt Parker, 31, deserved the decision but the British boxer endured the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Triumph in Slow Encounter

His career development has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the future of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He began cautiously, with the two boxers willing to overcommit in a cagey early stages.

Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, creating difficulties for the favorite, who worked behind a solid defense to barely take the cleaner stanzas.

The crowd's patience diminished because of constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor multiple occasions during close exchanges.

Parker finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Although, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi progresses, but with the likes of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still appears challenging.

Ricky Hatton Homage Inspires All-Manchester Fight

In the secondary fight, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent all-Manchester contest to win the European light heavyweight championship.

The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony sounded in remembrance of local hero Ricky Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in recently.

It was the initial significant broadcast boxing event in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime disappeared, the quiet gave way to a shout of "only one Hatton".

The fighting within the ring reflected the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook squarely on the face in the early round, rising shakily to his position on the referee's count.

But the traditional red shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo traded powerful shots.

The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over twelve rounds.

The victor barely secured the result with scoring tallies of even score, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their idol Hatton stood for.