British light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet underwhelming beginning to his career under recent management with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a close 10-round fight at the Co-op Live Arena.
But the challenger found success, connecting with powerful single shots in a fight where the styles didn't complement each other, with constant grabbing spoiling the fight.
The scoring judges judged it 96-94 for to Buatsi, with the remaining official a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my best display but what do champions do? They prevail," the victor said in the arena as he was faced disapproval from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in February - to claim a twentieth professional win.
Several boxing experts felt the challenger, 31, deserved the win but the Derbyshire fighter suffered the second defeat of his 28-match career.
Buatsi Earns Victory in Uneventful Match
Buatsi's progress has plateaued in the past few years through management issues and long spells of lack of fights.
Previously predicted as the next star of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - perhaps in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers ready to be aggressive in a calculated opening few rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against John Ryder in 2022 after damaging his hand during the bout, was competing in only his second appearance at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, Parker had stayed in contention, making life awkward for Buatsi, who worked behind a tight guard to narrowly win the cleaner rounds.
The crowd's patience diminished amid constant clinching, with the challenger going down various instances during grappling.
Parker ended stronger, but many rounds were difficult to score. Although, former world champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi advances, but with the caliber of hard hitter Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol leading the category, the path to championship success - judging by this showing - still seems difficult.
Ricky Hatton Homage Inspires All-Manchester Contest
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur overcame Bradley Rea by divided decision in a excellent local rivalry fight to secure the European light heavyweight title.
The arena fell silent for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as ten bells tolled in honor of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in recently.
It was the first major televised match card in the location since Hatton's passing. As the final chime disappeared, the quiet gave way to a shout of "there's just one Hatton".
The fighting during the bout equaled the sentiment. Arthur was sent to the canvas by a powerful punch directly to the chin in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his position on the eight count.
But the red-colored equipment of the fighter soon came forward again. Across the ring, the opponent - in rival City blue - was marked up early, noticeable damage forming under his face as the fighters landed hard punches.
The challenger, twenty-seven, connected with strong blows but the champion, 34, matched the intensity with stinging uppercuts as the intensity rarely dropped over twelve rounds.
Arthur barely secured the decision with judges scorecards of 114-114, narrow lead and 115-112, but both fighters were persistent and full of heart, exactly what their inspiration Hatton embodied.
