British light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive beginning to his career under fresh promotional backing with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round bout at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a contest where the approaches didn't complement each other, with frequent clinching disrupting the contest.
The officials judged it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the remaining official a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best performance but what defines champions? They prevail," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts felt Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Win in Slow Affair
The fighter's advancement has slowed in the past few years through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the future of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with both competitors prepared to take risks in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against his former opponent in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who operated with a solid defense to barely take the cleaner stanzas.
The audience's tolerance diminished during constant clinching, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during clinches.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were hard to judge. Nevertheless, former world champion Carl Frampton - commentating on Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi moves on, but with the caliber of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian star Bivol ruling the division, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Hatton Homage Inspires Local Rivalry Battle
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by split-decision in a excellent local rivalry battle to capture the European light heavyweight belt.
The venue grew hushed for a profoundly moving memorial ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in remembrance of the city's native Hatton, who succumbed aged 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell disappeared, the silence became a chant of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition inside the ropes reflected the sentiment. Arthur was floored by a significant blow directly to the chin in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. From the other corner, Rea - in rival City blue - was marked up early, significant bruising appearing under his orbital area as the duo traded powerful shots.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but Arthur, thirty-four, responded in kind with stinging uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
The victor narrowly won the verdict with scoring tallies of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but each competitor were determined and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration Hatton embodied.
