Zach Parker implemented his game plan to a tee in an intelligent display against Joshua Buatsi, but was ultimately denied the biggest win of his career. Buatsi won a heavily disputed majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 96-94) over Parker in the DAZN main event Saturday evening from the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
Uncrowned had Parker winning the fight 98-92.
It was Buatsi’s first fight since losing his WBO interim light heavyweight title to Callum Smith in a brutal Fight of the Year contender in February on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Buatsi’s fight with Parker (26-2, 18 KOs), however, was anything but a thriller. Parker used a great deal of lateral movement, spoiling and holding every time Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) got close and looked to exchange. It was far from pretty, but it looked to have been an effective and winning formula.
“Fuming, mate,” Parker said of the decision. “I won that fight easy. Every single person at ringside said I won it. I should be changing my daughter’s life and my new unborn child. I’ve won literally almost every round. I’m outboxing him; he can’t even touch me. I should be champion now, going on for bigger fights.
“Everyone’s got eyes, so [of course they] can see that I won the fight. He can’t even land a f***ing clean shot at me. I should be champion. I’m just pissed off, mate.”
Parker was the more active of the pair, utilizing his sharp jab and stabbing to the body with straight punches. Parker, the former WBO No. 1 at super middleweight, did a fine job of catching Buatsi as the Olympic bronze medalist attempted to close the gap. Buatsi was hesitant in letting his hands go, and the lack of activity was expected to have cost him many of the early rounds.
There was slightly more urgency from Buatsi from the seventh round onward, but Parker nullified his attempts at increasing the tempo and disrupted Buatsi’s momentum through holding and falling to the ground when the pair were embroiled in a clinch, as Buatsi attempted to put his weight on Parker.
Following his contentious win, Buatsi set his eyes on the victor of the Nov. 22 WBC light heavyweight title clash between David Benavidez Jr. and Anthony Yarde.
In the night’s co-feature, Lyndon Arthur (25-3, 16 KOs) recovered from an early knockdown to outbox Brad Rea (21-2, 10 KOs) and defeat him by majority decision to capture the European light heavyweight title. It was Arthur’s first fight since losing to Anthony Yarde in their trilogy bout on the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn undercard.
Check out full Buatsi vs. Parker results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play of the main card.
Main card Light heavyweight: Joshua Buatsi def. Zach Parker via majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 96-94)
Light heavyweight: Bradley Rea def. Lyndon Arthur via majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-112)
Light heavyweight: Liam Cameron def. Troy Jones via unanimous decision (97-93, 96-94, 96-94)
Light heavyweight: Billy Deniz def. Ezra Arenyeka via points (79-74)
Prelims Middleweight: Stephen Clarke def. Jose Aguirre via points (60-54)
Super flyweight: John Tom Varey def. Brandon Gallardo Vargas via points (40-36)
Super bantamweight: Leighton Birchall def. Wilbert Panttin via points (39-37)
Welterweight: Luke Prior def. Eduardo Vera Sanchez via points (40-36)
Heavyweight: Bradley Casey def. Antonio Borovina via 1st-round TKO | Watch video
Light heavyweight: Leon Hughes def. Pavol Garaj via points (40-36)
Super featherweight: Jermaine Dhliwayo def. Cesar Ignacio Paredes via points (40-36)
