At the head of affairs at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, Joshua Buatsi emerged the winner over ten rounds against Zach Parker, as he was on the right side of a controversial majority decision in their light heavyweight clash.
Buatsi and Parker went back and forth live on DAZN.
When he was last seen in February, Buatsi (20-1, KO13) lost his interim WBO title and his unbeaten record, as Callum Smith won clearly on the cards, while Parker (26-2, KO18) had won four on the spin since losing via retirement after four against John Ryder in November 2022, the last a points win against Mickael Diallo in February.
Parker shaded the first round with an eye-catching combination as both men established their jabs, but both were feeling one another out, with the second seeing a decent left hand land for Buatsi.
After a pretty even third, Parker was taking advantage of Buatsi taking too long to let his hands go, and a right hand found the mark for Parker in the fourth.
Buatsi was plodding, and looked behind on the cards going into the second half, and he finally came to life in the seventh, seemingly troubling Parker with a body shot, but Parker re-asserted in the eighth, and it looked like Buatsi needed a knockout.
Parker’s movement continued to trouble Buatsi to the final bell, but it would be to no avail ultimately, as the scorecards were read out.
One card of 95-95 was overruled by two tallies of 96-94 for Buatsi, who can consider himself fortunate to get the nod.
Brad Rea vs Lyndon Arthur
The undercard saw Lyndon Arthur (25-3, KO16) crowned the new European light heavyweight champion, as he got off the deck to take a majority decision victory against Brad Rea (21-2, KO10).
Arthur was dropped by a left hook in the second round, but scores of 115-113 and 115-112 in his favour at the end of the fight were enough to get his hand raised, with a third judge ruling the bout a 114-114 draw.
Liam Cameron vs Troy Jones
Liam Cameron (24-7-1, KO10) started his rebuild from a stoppage defeat to Ben Whittaker last time out, and the Sheffield light heavyweight took a ten-round decision win against Troy Jones (13-2, KO6).
In a competitive contest, Cameron came out the winner by two scores of 96-94, and a third at 97-93.
Remaining Undercard
Billy Deniz (14-0, KO5) was a 79-74 winner against Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka (14-2, KO11) in their light heavyweight eight-rounder.
Jermaine Dhilwayo (8-0, KO3) continued his education, and the super featherweight won all four rounds against Cesar Ignacio Paredes (18-30-1, KO5).
Bradley Casey (2-0, KO1) halted Antonio Borovina (2-5, KO0) inside a round at cruiserweight, and Leon Hughes (3-0, KO2) won all four rounds at light heavyweight against Pavol Garaj (9-49-4, KO4)
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Super featherweight prospect Leighton Burchall (3-0, KO2) took a 39-36 win against WIlbert Panttin (7-5, KO4).
John Tom Varney (1-0, KO0) debuted, and he dropped Brandon Gallardo Vargas (3-10-1, KO1) on the way to a points win at super flyweight, and welterweight first-timer Luke Prior (1-0, KO0) also won on points against Eduardo Vera Sanchez (2-13-2, KO0).
