British light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming start to life under fresh promotional backing with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level likely gained him a majority decision in a competitive 10-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful individual punches in a match where the approaches failed to mesh, with frequent clinching disrupting the fight.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the remaining official a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi commented in the arena as he was met by boos from the audience.
The Londoner got back to winning after his initial pro loss - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in February - to secure a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts believed the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the win but the British boxer endured the second loss of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Earns Triumph in Dull Encounter
Buatsi's progress has slowed in recent times through contract problems and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter ready to be aggressive in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was making just his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the more effective periods.
The spectators' acceptance diminished amid regular grabbing, with Parker slipping to the canvas multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker closed well, but many rounds were difficult to score. Although, ex-champion Carl Frampton - providing analysis for Dazn - had it particularly wide for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
The victor moves on, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Homage Motivates All-Manchester Fight
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur defeated Bradley Rea by close verdict in a excellent Manchester vs Manchester contest to capture the continental championship.
The arena fell silent for a deeply poignant homage before the fight as a bell ceremony rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died at age 46 in recently.
It was the premier televised boxing event in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime faded, the silence gave way to a roar of "only one Hatton".
The action inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. Arthur was floored by a powerful punch squarely on the face in the early round, rising shakily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon came forward again. On the opposite side, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up early, noticeable damage appearing under his face as the duo exchanged punishing blows.
Rea, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
Arthur narrowly won the result with judges scorecards of draw, close margin and wider gap, but the two athletes were relentless and full of heart, everything their inspiration Hatton embodied.
