🔗 Share this article

British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet disappointing debut to his career under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a contest where the techniques never quite clicked, with constant grabbing disrupting the action.

The officials had it 96-94 for to the winner, with the third a even score.

"It wasn't my best display but what defines champions? They succeed," the victor commented in the ringside as he was met by negative reactions from the spectators.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a 20th pro success.

Several boxing experts felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-fight career.

The Champion Claims Triumph in Dull Match

The fighter's advancement has stalled in recent times through promotional disputes and considerable time of inactivity.

Once tipped as the future of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.

He opened tentatively, with both competitors willing to be aggressive in a tentative early stages.

The challenger, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was competing in only his second fight at light-heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, Parker had kept it close, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to barely take the cleaner stanzas.

The audience's tolerance diminished because of frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor several times during grappling.

The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Although, former world champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.

Buatsi moves on, but with the likes of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the road to world glory - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Ricky Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Fight

In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to secure the European light heavyweight title.

The venue became quiet for a deeply poignant tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony tolled in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in September.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the quiet became a chant of "only one Ricky Hatton".

The competition inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the jaw in the initial stage, rising shakily to his position on the eight count.

But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up quickly, significant bruising developing under his face as the duo traded hard punches.

Rea, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over 12 rounds.

Arthur narrowly won the result with scoring tallies of even score, narrow lead and wider gap, but the two athletes were relentless and brave, everything their idol the legend represented.