🔗 Share this article

British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.

But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the techniques didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing spoiling the action.

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

"It wasn't my greatest display but what defines champions? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.

The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to earn a 20th pro success.

Various analysts felt the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer suffered the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.

Buatsi Claims Victory in Slow Encounter

The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through promotional disputes and long spells of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He started carefully, with neither fighter prepared to take risks in a cagey initial rounds.

Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at the higher weight class.

By the middle rounds, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.

The spectators' acceptance diminished because of frequent holding, with the challenger falling to the floor multiple occasions during grappling.

Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.

The victor moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still appears challenging.

Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Contest

In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific all-Manchester contest to capture the continental title.

The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of local hero Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.

It was the premier televised fight night in the location since Hatton's passing. As the last bell ended, the silence gave way to a chant of "there's only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition during the bout matched the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook squarely on the face in the second round, rising shakily to his position on the referee's count.

But the traditional red shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in competitive blue - was damaged quickly, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the duo traded powerful shots.

The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over 12 rounds.

The victor edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration Hatton represented.