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UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to life under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level appeared to earn him a split decision in a competitive ten-round fight at the boxing arena.

But Parker found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing disrupting the action.

Two judges had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest performance but how do champions respond? They succeed," Buatsi said in the ring as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.

The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Several boxing experts thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the victory but the British boxer endured the second defeat of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Secures Victory in Slow Match

The fighter's advancement has plateaued in recent years through promotional disputes and extended periods of lack of fights.

Earlier forecast as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.

He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to be aggressive in a cagey early stages.

The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at the lower weight class 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 halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who utilized a solid defense to edge the cleaner rounds.

The spectators' acceptance decreased during regular grabbing, with the challenger falling to the floor multiple occasions during grappling.

The underdog closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Although, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just a single round.

The victor advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.

Ricky Hatton Memorial Motivates All-Manchester Battle

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a terrific all-Manchester fight to win the European light-heavyweight championship.

The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as a bell ceremony sounded in honor of the city's native Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in recently.

It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the stillness became a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The action within the ring equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook squarely on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the eight count.

But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured early, noticeable damage forming under his face as the pair landed powerful shots.

Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

Arthur edged the verdict with official scores of draw, close margin and clearer margin, but the two athletes were relentless and courageous, exactly what their hero the legend represented.