UK light heavyweight Buatsi earned a win yet unimpressive beginning to life under recent management with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic medal winner's punch output likely gained him a split decision in a close 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling individual punches in a fight where the styles didn't complement each other, with excessive holding spoiling the action.
Two judges judged it 96-94 in favor to Buatsi, with the third a even score.
"It wasn't my best performance but how do champions respond? They prevail," the victor stated in the arena as he was met by boos from the audience.
The British fighter got back to winning after his maiden career setback - an memorable fight with his previous opponent in last winter - to earn a 20th pro success.
Several boxing experts thought the challenger, 31, merited the decision but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Win in Uneventful Encounter
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in the past few years through management issues and considerable time of inactivity.
Earlier forecast as the next star of UK boxing, he now finds himself trying to fulfil that early promise - perhaps in what appears to be a last chance - under recent support.
He opened tentatively, with neither fighter prepared to overcommit in a cagey early stages.
Parker, whose only previous defeat came at super middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand mid-fight, was participating in his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the middle rounds, Parker had made it competitive, making life awkward for the favorite, who operated with a tight guard to barely take the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience wore thin during constant clinching, with Parker slipping to the canvas several times during clinches.
The underdog closed well, but many rounds were difficult to score. Nevertheless, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with the broadcast network - had it significantly in favor for Parker, giving Buatsi just a single round.
The victor advances, but with the presence of hard hitter David Benavidez, and Russian champion Bivol leading the category, the journey to titles - based on this performance - still looks steep.
Hatton Memorial Motivates Local Rivalry Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific local rivalry battle to win the European light heavyweight title.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional homage prior to the bout as a bell ceremony sounded in memory of the city's native Hatton, who passed away at age 46 in last month.
It was the first major televised match card in the city since Hatton's death. As the concluding sound disappeared, the silence gave way to a shout of "there's only one Hatton".
The fighting within the ring reflected the emotion. Arthur was floored by a significant blow directly to the face in the initial stage, rising shakily to his footing on the eight count.
But the traditional red attire of Arthur soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was marked up soon, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the fighters traded punishing blows.
The challenger, twenty-seven, landed power punches but the champion, 34, matched the intensity with powerful upward punches as the action hardly diminished over 12 rounds.
Arthur barely secured the result with official scores of draw, close margin and wider gap, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration Hatton embodied.
