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UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive beginning to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a tight 10-round bout at the boxing arena.

But the challenger had his moments, connecting with powerful clean blows in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching spoiling the action.

The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.

"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They win," the victor commented in the arena as he was faced boos from the crowd.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.

Several boxing experts thought the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the win but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Earns Win in Slow Encounter

His career development has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.

He started carefully, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a tentative opening few rounds.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was participating in his second fight at light-heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for the favorite, who utilized a solid defense to barely take the better stanzas.

The crowd's patience diminished because of frequent holding, with the challenger going down several times during close exchanges.

The underdog closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.

Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Battle

In the supporting bout, Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry fight to capture the European light heavyweight belt.

The arena fell silent for a profoundly moving homage before the fight as ten bells rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in September.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell faded, the quiet became a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition within the ring equaled the feeling. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow squarely on the chin in the early round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the referee's count.

But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was damaged soon, noticeable damage forming under his eye as the fighters traded hard punches.

Rea, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over the full distance.

Arthur edged the verdict with official scores of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were relentless and courageous, everything their inspiration the legend represented.