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UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing debut to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Parker in the Manchester arena.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a close ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.

But the challenger had his moments, landing some telling individual punches in a contest where the styles didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching marring the contest.

Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the final judge a even score.

"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.

The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to earn a twentieth professional win.

Several boxing experts thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the win but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.

The Champion Claims Victory in Uneventful Encounter

His career development has stalled in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the rising talent of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under fresh management.

He started carefully, with neither fighter willing to be aggressive in a calculated initial rounds.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was participating in his second fight at light-heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.

The crowd's patience decreased during frequent holding, with Parker slipping to the canvas various instances during close exchanges.

Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Hatton Tribute Motivates Manchester Derby Battle

In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to secure the continental belt.

The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional homage before the fight as a bell ceremony rang in memory of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the location since Hatton's passing. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet gave way to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".

The fighting within the ring equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook flush on the face in the initial stage, rising shakily to his footing on the count of eight.

But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, Rea - in competitive blue - was injured soon, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded hard punches.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the verdict with judges scorecards of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, all the qualities their hero Hatton embodied.