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UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive debut to life under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output likely gained him a majority decision in a tight 10-round contest at the Manchester venue.

But the challenger landed significant shots, delivering effective individual punches in a match where the techniques didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95 draw.

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

The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to claim a 20th career victory.

Some ringside observers felt the challenger, 31, deserved the decision but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second loss of his 28-match career.

Buatsi Secures Win in Dull Affair

His career development has slowed in recent times through promotional disputes and extended periods of lack of fights.

Previously predicted as the next star of British boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.

He opened tentatively, with the two boxers willing to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after breaking his hand mid-fight, was making just his second bout at light heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who worked behind a solid defense to edge the cleaner rounds.

The crowd's patience wore thin amid frequent holding, with Parker going down several times during clinches.

Parker finished the stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. Nevertheless, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.

Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still looks steep.

Hatton Memorial Fuels Manchester Derby Battle

In the supporting bout, Arthur overcame Rea by close verdict in a terrific local rivalry contest to win the continental championship.

The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant homage prior to the bout as a bell ceremony rang in memory of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in last month.

It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's passing. As the last bell ended, the silence became a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The action during the bout matched the emotion. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a significant blow flush on the chin in the early round, standing uncertainly to his footing on the eight count.

But the red-colored attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, the opponent - in rival City blue - was injured quickly, significant bruising forming under his face as the fighters traded punishing blows.

Rea, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, 34, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

The victor barely secured the verdict with official scores of even score, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were determined and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration Hatton represented.