British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet disappointing debut to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a tight 10-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger had his moments, delivering effective individual punches in a contest where the approaches failed to mesh, with constant grabbing marring the contest.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the final judge a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest display but what do champions do? They win," Buatsi commented in the ring as he was met by disapproval from the crowd.
The Londoner returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to claim a 20th career victory.
Several boxing experts felt Parker, 31, merited the win but the British boxer endured the second setback of his 28-fight career.
The Champion Earns Triumph in Slow Match
The fighter's advancement has slowed in recent times through management issues and considerable time of lack of fights.
Once tipped as the future of UK boxing, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what feels like a last chance - under new promotional backing.
He started carefully, with both competitors willing to take risks in a cagey opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at super middleweight against his former opponent in two years ago after suffering a hand injury in the contest, was competing in only his second bout at light heavyweight.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, creating difficulties for Buatsi, who operated with a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The audience's tolerance wore thin amid frequent holding, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during close exchanges.
Parker closed well, but several stanzas were hard to judge. Nevertheless, ex-champion Carl Frampton - working with the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for Parker, giving Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi progresses, but with the caliber of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by divided decision in a outstanding local rivalry battle to secure the continental belt.
The arena grew hushed for a profoundly moving tribute prior to the bout as 10 bells rang in memory of Manchester's own Hatton, who died at age 46 in September.
It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's passing. As the final chime ended, the stillness transitioned to a chant of "only one Hatton".
The fighting inside the ropes equaled the sentiment. The eventual winner was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the eight count.
But the traditional red attire of the fighter soon pressed ahead again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in opposing blue - was damaged quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his orbital area as the fighters landed punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, thirty-four, matched the intensity with powerful upward punches as the pace hardly diminished over the full distance.
The victor barely secured the decision with judges scorecards of even score, close margin and clearer margin, but the two athletes were persistent and brave, everything their hero Hatton stood for.
