UK light-heavyweight Buatsi secured a victory yet underwhelming debut to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's work rate seemingly secured him a judges' verdict in a close 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger had his moments, landing some telling clean blows in a contest where the approaches never quite clicked, with constant grabbing marring the action.
The officials had it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the final judge a even score.
"It wasn't my finest showing but how do champions respond? They prevail," Buatsi stated in the arena as he was faced negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in last winter - to secure a twentieth professional win.
Some ringside observers thought the challenger, thirty-one, merited the decision but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second defeat of his 28-match professional journey.
Buatsi Secures Victory in Uneventful Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in recent years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Previously predicted as the next star of the British fight scene, he now stands trying to achieve expectations - maybe in what appears to be a final roll of the dice - under fresh management.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers ready to take risks in a calculated early stages.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was making just his second fight at light-heavyweight.
By the fight's midpoint, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for Buatsi, who operated with a solid defense to edge the more effective stanzas.
The audience's tolerance wore thin amid constant clinching, with Parker going down various instances during clinches.
The underdog ended stronger, but several stanzas were challenging to assess. However, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - commentating on the broadcast network - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, giving Buatsi just a single round.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of heavy hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol ruling the division, the path to championship success - based on this performance - still seems difficult.
Hatton Memorial Fuels All-Manchester Battle
In the co-main event, Lyndon Arthur overcame Rea by split-decision in a outstanding local rivalry battle to win the European light heavyweight belt.
The stadium fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as 10 bells tolled in remembrance of local hero Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in September.
It was the premier televised match card in the location since the passing of Hatton. As the final chime ended, the silence became a roar of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting during the bout reflected the feeling. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a left hook squarely on the chin in the second round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. From the other corner, Rea - in competitive blue - was marked up quickly, heavy swelling appearing under his eye as the pair traded powerful shots.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, thirty-four, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the intensity hardly diminished over twelve rounds.
Arthur edged the decision with official scores of even score, close margin and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and brave, everything their idol the legend stood for.
