Fans were screaming bloody murder on Saturday night following the 10-round majority decision victory by light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) over the valiant warrior Zach Parker (26-2, 18 KOs) in the main event at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)
Buatsi, 32, did not look sharp tonight compared to his two previous fights against Callum Smith and Willy Hutchinson. He appeared a step slow and worn down from the first round. Parker took advantage of Buatsi’s depleted state by landing sharp counters and moving out of the way of his slow return fire.
The results were loudly booed by fans at ringside and criticized by social media users, who felt that Parker had not done enough to deserve the win. The judges scored it 95-95, 96-94, and 96-94.
It was a beautiful display of the art of hit-and-not-get-hit by Parker. He had Buatsi visibly frustrated, resulting in him using roughhouse tactics, such as hitting Parker on the back. Zach, 31, kept his cool, choosing not to get in the gutter with Buatsi with the fouling. The clinching that Parker did was smart, as it prevented Buatsi from landing shots on the inside. The counters that Parker was landing.
The boxing world had Parker winning the fight, but the judges felt that Buatsi’s pressure was enough to side with him.
“Absolutely,” said Buatsi to BoxNation when asked if he believed he’d won the fight. “9-1? Say less. No comment to that,” said Buatsi when told that Carl Frampton scored it 9-1 for Parker. “Yeah, absolutely. We’re with the same promoter. It makes sense,” said Buatsi, responding to being told that promoter George Warren wants to match him against Anthony Yarde in 2026.
Lyndon Arthur defeats Bradley Rea
In the chief support bout, Lynson Arthur (26-3, 17 KOs) defeated EBU light heavyweight champion Bradley Rea (21-3, 10 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision in a thrilling fight. The scores were 114-114, 115-113, and 115-113.
Rea landed two scorching left hooks that put Arthur down in round two, but he got up, dusted himself off, and came back. In the later rounds, Arthur used his uppercuts to edge the rounds. Rea was hurt by an uppercut from Arthur in round 10, which took the remaining fight out of him
“Rea hit like a truck early—fair play—but I boxed smart, hurt him back in the 11th, and this title’s my redemption. Beterbiev, Bivol, bring it; I’m peaking now,” said Arthur to Sky Sports after the fight.
“I bossed the inside, dropped him clean, but he ran and countered too much late. Close as hell, but I want that belt back—rematch makes sense,” said Rea.
