British light heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive debut to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a close 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful clean blows in a fight where the approaches never quite clicked, with excessive holding spoiling the fight.
The officials judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a 95-95.
"It wasn't my best showing but what do champions do? They succeed," Buatsi stated in the ringside as he was met by negative reactions from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to secure a 20th career victory.
Various analysts thought Parker, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second setback of his 28-fight career.
Buatsi Claims Victory in Dull Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent times through contract problems and long spells of inactivity.
Once tipped as the next star of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to overcommit in a cagey early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after breaking his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for the favorite, who operated with a protective stance to edge the cleaner stanzas.
The audience's tolerance diminished because of frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during grappling.
The underdog finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. However, previous titleholder the boxing analyst - commentating on the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, giving Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Fuels Manchester Derby Battle
In the co-main event, Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent all-Manchester fight to capture the European light-heavyweight title.
The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional tribute ahead of the contest as ten bells rang in remembrance of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who succumbed at age 46 in recently.
It was the initial significant broadcast match card in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime faded, the stillness transitioned to a chant of "there's just one Hatton".
The competition during the bout equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a left hook directly to the jaw in the initial stage, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, Rea - in opposing blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the duo traded powerful shots.
Rea, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the action rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the verdict with official scores of even score, narrow lead and 115-112, but the two athletes were relentless and brave, exactly what their idol the legend embodied.
