British light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming beginning to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a split decision in a competitive 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling individual punches in a match where the techniques never quite clicked, with excessive holding disrupting the fight.
Two judges had it 96-94 to the winner, with the remaining official a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They succeed," the victor stated in the ringside as he was faced negative reactions from the crowd.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Various analysts thought Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the British boxer experienced the second loss of his 28-fight professional journey.
Buatsi Secures Victory in Slow Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the next star of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to be aggressive in a tentative initial rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at the lower weight class against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the more effective stanzas.
The spectators' acceptance decreased amid regular grabbing, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during close exchanges.
The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were hard to judge. However, ex-champion Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol ruling the division, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to capture the European light heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as 10 bells sounded in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised fight night in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime faded, the quiet transitioned to a chant of "there's only one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes matched the emotion. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a left hook squarely on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored shorts of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured early, significant bruising developing under his orbital area as the pair landed hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, delivered effective strikes but the champion, 34, matched the intensity with effective uppercuts as the pace seldom decreased over twelve rounds.
The victor narrowly won the result with official scores of 114-114, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton represented.
