British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive debut to his career under recent management with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level likely gained him a split decision in a tight ten-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker landed significant shots, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the techniques failed to mesh, with excessive holding spoiling the action.
The officials judged it 96-94 in favor to the winner, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They succeed," the victor commented in the arena as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th career victory.
Various analysts believed Parker, 31, merited the win but the contender endured the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Win in Dull Match
The fighter's advancement has slowed in recent years through promotional disputes and extended periods of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of the British fight scene, he now finds himself trying to realize his potential - possibly in what appears to be a ultimate opportunity - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers willing to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury during the bout, was making just his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to narrowly win the more effective rounds.
The audience's tolerance decreased because of constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor several times during grappling.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion the boxing analyst - providing analysis for the broadcast network - had it particularly wide for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi advances, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Hatton Memorial Inspires Manchester Derby Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Rea by split-decision in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester contest to win the European light heavyweight title.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute prior to the bout as a bell ceremony rang in memory of the city's native Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the concluding sound ended, the silence became a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition during the bout equaled the feeling. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch squarely on the jaw in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up soon, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the fighters traded hard punches.
Rea, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the result with scoring tallies of 114-114, close margin and 115-112, but the two athletes were persistent and courageous, everything their inspiration Hatton represented.
