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UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing debut to life under new promoters with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate appeared to earn him a majority decision in a close ten-round bout at the boxing arena.

But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective individual punches in a fight where the techniques never quite clicked, with constant grabbing marring the fight.

The scoring judges had it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95.

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was greeted with negative reactions from the crowd.

The British fighter got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.

Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.

The Champion Earns Victory in Dull Encounter

His career development has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and extended periods of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the future of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - perhaps in what feels like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.

He started carefully, with both competitors ready to be aggressive in a cagey early stages.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who worked behind a solid defense to barely take the better periods.

The audience's tolerance decreased because of frequent holding, with the challenger slipping to the canvas several times during grappling.

The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were difficult to score. However, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still seems difficult.

Hatton Homage Motivates Manchester Derby Contest

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester fight to win the European light heavyweight championship.

The venue became quiet for a deeply poignant memorial before the fight as 10 bells tolled in honor of local hero Ricky Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in September.

It was the premier televised match card in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the quiet gave way to a chant of "there's just one Hatton".

The action inside the ropes matched the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow flush on the chin in the initial stage, standing uncertainly to his feet on the count of eight.

But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up early, significant bruising forming under his face as the fighters traded hard punches.

The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the intensity rarely dropped over twelve rounds.

The victor narrowly won the result with scoring tallies of draw, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and courageous, everything their hero the legend stood for.