UK light heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet unimpressive start to his career under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's activity level seemingly secured him a majority decision in a tight 10-round contest at the Co-op Live Arena.
But Parker had his moments, connecting with powerful clean blows in a match where the approaches failed to mesh, with frequent clinching disrupting the action.
The officials scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They win," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was greeted with disapproval from the spectators.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his initial pro loss - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to secure a 20th career victory.
Some ringside observers believed Parker, thirty-one, merited the victory but the British boxer experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout professional journey.
The Champion Secures Win in Slow Encounter
His career development has slowed in the past few years through management issues and long spells of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - possibly in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with neither fighter prepared to be aggressive in a cagey initial rounds.
Parker, whose sole prior loss came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after suffering a hand injury mid-fight, was making just his second fight at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, the underdog had made it competitive, making life awkward for the favorite, who worked behind a tight guard to edge the better rounds.
The spectators' acceptance wore thin because of constant clinching, with the challenger going down various instances during grappling.
Parker closed well, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor progresses, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian star Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - on this evidence - still appears challenging.
Hatton Tribute Motivates Local Rivalry Contest
In the supporting bout, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by divided decision in a outstanding Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the European light heavyweight championship.
The arena became quiet for a extremely emotional homage ahead of the contest as 10 bells sounded in memory of the city's native Hatton, who succumbed 46 years old in last month.
It was the initial significant broadcast fight night in the urban center since Hatton's death. As the last bell ended, the silence transitioned to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch flush on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his feet on the referee's count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of the fighter soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling developing under his eye as the pair landed hard punches.
Rea, 27, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, responded in kind with effective uppercuts as the pace hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
The victor narrowly won the result with official scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but each competitor were relentless and brave, everything their idol the legend represented.
