🔗 Share this article

British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive debut to life under recent management with a points victory over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.

But the challenger landed significant shots, delivering effective clean blows in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching spoiling the contest.

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

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor said in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the crowd.

The Londoner got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in last winter - to earn a twentieth professional win.

Various analysts thought the challenger, thirty-one, deserved the win but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second defeat of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Earns Triumph in Slow Match

His career development has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the next star of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He started carefully, with the two boxers ready to overcommit in a cagey initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was participating in his second appearance at light heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who utilized a solid defense to narrowly win the better rounds.

The spectators' acceptance diminished during constant clinching, with Parker going down multiple occasions during grappling.

Parker closed well, but many rounds were challenging to assess. However, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, giving Buatsi just one round.

The victor progresses, but with the presence of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still looks steep.

Hatton Memorial Fuels Manchester Derby Fight

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent all-Manchester fight to secure the European light heavyweight belt.

The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant memorial ahead of the contest as ten bells tolled in honor of local hero Hatton, who died aged 46 in recently.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound faded, the stillness transitioned to a roar of "there's only one Hatton".

The fighting during the bout matched the feeling. Arthur was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.

But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured early, significant bruising developing under his eye as the pair landed hard punches.

The challenger, 27, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

Arthur barely secured the decision with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but each competitor were determined and courageous, everything their hero the legend embodied.