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UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing start to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic medal winner's work rate likely gained him a majority decision in a tight 10-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a fight where the styles failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the contest.

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

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was faced negative reactions from the spectators.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th career victory.

Several boxing experts felt Parker, thirty-one, deserved the victory but the contender endured the second setback of his 28-bout professional journey.

Buatsi Earns Win in Uneventful Match

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

Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now finds himself trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.

He started carefully, with both competitors prepared to overcommit in a tentative opening few rounds.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second bout at light heavyweight.

By the fight's midpoint, Parker had made it competitive, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a solid defense to narrowly win the better stanzas.

The spectators' acceptance diminished because of frequent holding, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during clinches.

Parker closed well, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.

The victor advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Hatton Homage Fuels All-Manchester Fight

In the secondary fight, Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to win the European light heavyweight championship.

The stadium became quiet for a extremely emotional homage ahead of the contest as a bell ceremony tolled in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in recently.

It was the premier televised fight night in the location since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the quiet gave way to a chant of "only one Hatton".

The action inside the ropes equaled the feeling. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch squarely on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the referee's count.

But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. Across the ring, the opponent - in competitive blue - was damaged early, significant bruising developing under his eye as the duo landed powerful shots.

Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

The victor narrowly won the decision with judges scorecards of draw, 115-113 and clearer margin, but the two athletes were relentless and courageous, everything their hero the legend represented.