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British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic medal winner's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a tight ten-round contest at the boxing arena.

But the challenger found success, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the styles didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing disrupting the fight.

Two judges had it 96-94 for to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my finest display but how do champions respond? They succeed," Buatsi said in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.

The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Various analysts believed Parker, 31, should have been awarded the win but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.

The Champion Secures Win in Dull Affair

Buatsi's progress has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.

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

He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a calculated early stages.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second appearance at the higher weight class.

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

The crowd's patience decreased during constant clinching, with the challenger slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during grappling.

The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Although, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.

The victor advances, but with the caliber of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.

Hatton Homage Inspires All-Manchester Battle

In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester battle to secure the European light heavyweight title.

The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant homage prior to the bout as ten bells sounded in honor of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who passed away aged 46 in last month.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the stillness gave way to a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The competition inside the ropes matched the emotion. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his position on the eight count.

But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling forming under his orbital area as the pair traded hard punches.

The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over 12 rounds.

The victor edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and clearer margin, but the two athletes were determined and brave, exactly what their inspiration Hatton represented.