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UK light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's work rate appeared to earn him a split decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the boxing arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a fight where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing disrupting the action.

Two judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest performance but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor stated in the ringside as he was greeted with negative reactions from the spectators.

The British fighter bounced back after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to secure a twentieth professional win.

Various analysts thought the challenger, thirty-one, deserved the win but the British boxer suffered the second loss of his 28-fight career.

Buatsi Secures Triumph in Slow Match

The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.

Once tipped as the future of the British fight scene, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what seems like a last chance - under fresh management.

He began cautiously, with the two boxers ready to take risks in a cagey early stages.

Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second appearance at light heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had kept it close, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.

The audience's tolerance decreased because of frequent holding, with Parker going down several times during grappling.

The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for Parker, scoring for Buatsi just only one stanza.

The victor advances, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still seems difficult.

Hatton Homage Motivates All-Manchester Contest

In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent all-Manchester contest to win the European light heavyweight title.

The stadium fell silent for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as ten bells tolled in remembrance of Manchester's own Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in recently.

It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the city since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the silence became a roar of "there's only one Hatton".

The action within the ring equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was knocked down by a significant blow directly to the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.

But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, noticeable damage appearing under his face as the fighters traded punishing blows.

Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with powerful upward punches as the intensity rarely dropped over 12 rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the verdict with official scores of draw, close margin and 115-112, but each competitor were relentless and full of heart, everything their idol Hatton represented.