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UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming debut to life under new promoters with a unanimous decision over Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a tight ten-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.

But Parker found success, delivering effective single shots in a match where the techniques never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the fight.

The officials judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my finest performance but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was faced disapproval from the spectators.

The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.

Several boxing experts felt Parker, 31, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer experienced the second setback of his 28-match career.

The Champion Earns Victory in Slow Affair

The fighter's advancement has plateaued in the past few years through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.

Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now stands trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a ultimate opportunity - under recent support.

He started carefully, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a tentative initial rounds.

Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand mid-fight, was making just his second appearance at light heavyweight.

By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to narrowly win the cleaner stanzas.

The crowd's patience decreased during constant clinching, with the challenger going down various instances during close exchanges.

The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, awarding Buatsi just one round.

The victor progresses, but with the likes of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.

Hatton Memorial Inspires Manchester Derby Battle

In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by close verdict in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester battle to win the European light-heavyweight title.

The arena grew hushed for a profoundly moving memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in September.

It was the premier televised match card in the city since Hatton's death. As the final chime faded, the stillness became a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".

The action within the ring matched the emotion. The eventual winner was floored by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the referee's count.

But the traditional red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. Across the ring, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured early, significant bruising developing under his eye as the pair traded punishing blows.

The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.

The victor edged the verdict with judges scorecards of draw, narrow lead and wider gap, but both fighters were persistent and courageous, exactly what their idol Hatton represented.