UK light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming beginning to his career under new promoters with a points victory over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a majority decision in a close 10-round fight at the boxing arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, connecting with powerful individual punches in a contest where the techniques didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing disrupting the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest showing but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor stated in the arena as he was greeted with boos from the spectators.
The British fighter got back to winning after his first professional defeat - an epic battle with Callum Smith in February - to claim a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers felt the challenger, thirty-one, should have been awarded the decision but the contender suffered the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Win in Dull Affair
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in recent times through management issues and long spells of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after breaking his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second bout at the higher weight class.
By the fight's midpoint, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for Buatsi, who worked behind a solid defense to edge the more effective stanzas.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with the challenger falling to the floor various instances during grappling.
Parker finished the stronger, but multiple periods were challenging to assess. Nevertheless, ex-champion the boxing analyst - commentating on Dazn - had it significantly in favor for Parker, awarding Buatsi just only one stanza.
Buatsi moves on, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the path to championship success - on this evidence - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Manchester Derby Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by split-decision in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the European light heavyweight championship.
The arena became quiet for a deeply poignant homage prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in memory of local hero Ricky Hatton, who died at age 46 in September.
It was the first major televised fight night in the city since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound faded, the stillness became a roar of "only one Hatton".
The fighting during the bout equaled the emotion. The eventual winner was floored by a left hook directly to the face in the early round, standing uncertainly to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored attire of Arthur soon advanced again. Across the ring, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured early, noticeable damage appearing under his orbital area as the pair landed hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, fought fire with fire with stinging uppercuts as the pace rarely dropped over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the verdict with scoring tallies of even score, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration the legend embodied.
