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British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round contest at the boxing arena.

But the challenger found success, delivering effective single shots in a fight where the techniques never quite clicked, with constant grabbing spoiling the contest.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 to the winner, with the final judge a 95-95.

"It wasn't my finest display but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi commented in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.

The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th career victory.

Some ringside observers felt Parker, 31, merited the win but the British boxer experienced the second setback of his 28-match career.

Buatsi Claims Triumph in Dull Match

Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent years through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a last chance - under new promotional backing.

He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a tentative initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second fight at the higher weight class.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to barely take the more effective stanzas.

The crowd's patience wore thin because of frequent holding, with the challenger falling to the floor multiple occasions during close exchanges.

Parker ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.

The victor advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Hatton Memorial Inspires Local Rivalry Fight

In the supporting bout, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester battle to capture the continental belt.

The venue grew hushed for a profoundly moving memorial before the fight as 10 bells tolled in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the quiet gave way to a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The competition during the bout equaled the feeling. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a significant blow flush on the face in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the referee's count.

But the traditional red equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up early, significant bruising appearing under his eye as the fighters traded powerful shots.

The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

The victor edged the result with official scores of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration the legend embodied.