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British light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming start to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.

The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round bout at the Manchester venue.

But Parker had his moments, delivering effective single shots in a contest where the styles never quite clicked, with frequent clinching marring the action.

Two judges judged it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.

"It wasn't my greatest showing but what defines champions? They prevail," the victor commented in the ring as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.

The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th pro success.

Several boxing experts thought Parker, 31, merited the win but the Derbyshire fighter experienced the second setback of his 28-match career.

The Champion Claims Win in Dull Match

Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent years through management issues and long spells of inactivity.

Once tipped as the next star of British boxing, he now stands trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under recent support.

He started carefully, with the two boxers prepared to overcommit in a cagey initial rounds.

The challenger, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand mid-fight, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.

By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a protective stance to edge the cleaner rounds.

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

The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just one round.

Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.

Hatton Tribute Motivates All-Manchester Fight

In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a terrific local rivalry contest to win the European light heavyweight championship.

The stadium fell silent for a profoundly moving tribute before the fight as a bell ceremony sounded in memory of the city's native Hatton, who died aged 46 in recently.

It was the premier televised boxing event in the urban center since Hatton's passing. As the last bell faded, the stillness gave way to a roar of "there's only one Hatton".

The fighting within the ring reflected the feeling. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch flush on the face in the initial stage, rising shakily to his footing on the eight count.

But the red-colored shorts of the fighter soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in competitive blue - was damaged soon, heavy swelling appearing under his face as the pair landed powerful shots.

Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over twelve rounds.

Arthur barely secured the result with official scores of even score, narrow lead and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.