Underwhelming Buatsi outpoints Parker in Manchester

With a points victory over Zach Parker in Manchester, British light-heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a strong but underwhelming start to life under new promoters Queensberry.

The Olympic bronze medalist appeared to have won the majority of the way through a tight 10-round battle at the Co-op Live Arena based on his workrate and punch output.

However, Parker had his moments, landing some poignant single shots in a fight where too much holding led to a deterioration of the fighting.

The third game ended in a draw of 95-95 with two judges scoring it 96-94 to Buatsi.

What do champions do when they don’t give their best performances? They win, Buatsi said in the ring after being booed by the crowd.

Following his epic battle with Callum Smith in February, the Londoner regained his winning ways to earn his 20th career victory.

Parker, 31, was given the decision, according to some ringside observers, but he lost his 28-fight career to his Derbyshire rival.

In a previous post, promoter Frank Warren had suggested that Buatsi might face the Saudi Arabian champion David Benavidez and fellow Briton Anthony Yarde in the WBC world title fight on November 22.

Through promotional disputes and protracted inactivity, Buatsi’s career has recently stalled.

He was once predicted to be the future of British boxing, but he now finds himself trying to fulfill that initial promise with new promotional support.

In his first few rounds, he began cautiously, with neither fighter willing to overcommit.

Parker, who had only lost once in a super-middleweight match against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand in a midfight, was only making his second light-heavyweight appearance.

By the halfway point, Parker had made it competitive, making Buatsi’s work behind a tight guard to edge the cleaner rounds awkward.

Parker slipped several times during clinches, demonstrating the crowd’s patience as the crowd grew more patient.

Parker came out on top, but Parker had trouble scoring in many of Parker’s rounds. Although Carl Frampton, the former world champion who was commentating on Dazn, gave Buatsi just one round, it was particularly wide in Parker’s favor.

In a fantastic all-Manchester fight for the title of European light-heavyweight, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by split decision in the co-main event.

Before the fight, the arena rang as 10 bells rang in honor of Manchester’s own Ricky Hatton, who passed away in September at the age of 46.

Since Hatton’s death, the city has hosted its first significant televised fight night. The silence faded as the final chime sounded before the roar of “there’s only one Ricky Hatton.”

The emotion was matched by the ropes’ action. In the second round, Arthur was floored by a left hook that was flush on his chin, and he struggled to stand on the eighth count.

However, Arthur’s red shorts from Manchester United soon showed up. Rea, who was wearing rival City blue, was marked up early and had developed severe swelling under his eye as a result of the pair’s vicious knocks.

Rea, 27, landed power punches, but Arthur, 34, fought back with stinging uppercuts because the intensity didn’t often drop after 12 rounds.