British light heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a split decision in a close 10-round contest at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the styles didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the action.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the crowd.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Secures Win in Slow Affair
Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent years through contract problems and considerable time of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the future of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - maybe in what appears to be a last chance - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter prepared to be aggressive in a calculated 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 participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a protective stance to barely take the more effective periods.
The spectators' acceptance diminished amid regular grabbing, with the challenger going down several times during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but multiple periods were hard to judge. However, ex-champion the boxing analyst - commentating on Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still looks steep.
Hatton Tribute Fuels All-Manchester Contest
In the supporting bout, Arthur beat Rea by divided decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester fight to win the continental belt.
The venue grew hushed for a deeply poignant tribute before the fight as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of Manchester's own Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime faded, the stillness transitioned to a shout of "only one Ricky Hatton".
The action within the ring matched the feeling. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch flush on the jaw in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the referee's count.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon advanced again. On the opposite side, Rea - in rival City blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the duo traded hard punches.
The challenger, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor edged the decision with official scores of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but the two athletes were persistent and courageous, everything their hero the legend stood for.
