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

The Olympic medal winner's punch output appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a competitive 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.

But Parker found success, delivering effective individual punches in a match where the approaches never quite clicked, with frequent clinching disrupting the contest.

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

"It wasn't my finest performance but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi said in the arena as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.

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

Several boxing experts believed the challenger, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-match career.

Buatsi Secures Triumph in Slow Encounter

His career development has stalled in the past few years through promotional disputes and extended periods of inactivity.

Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.

He began cautiously, with neither fighter willing to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was competing in only his second appearance 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 more effective stanzas.

The spectators' acceptance wore thin during regular grabbing, with the challenger going down multiple occasions during close exchanges.

The underdog closed well, but many rounds were difficult to score. However, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just one round.

The victor progresses, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.

Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Contest

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the continental belt.

The venue fell silent for a deeply poignant homage ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in honor of local hero Ricky Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in recently.

It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the location since Hatton's death. As the last bell disappeared, the stillness became a chant of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The fighting inside the ropes reflected the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the chin in the early round, rising shakily to his footing on the eight count.

But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his eye as the fighters traded powerful shots.

Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

Arthur barely secured the verdict with official scores of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but the two athletes were persistent and full of heart, everything their hero Hatton represented.