UK light heavyweight Buatsi made a winning yet unimpressive debut to life under new promoters with a decision win over Zach Parker in the Manchester arena.
The Olympic bronze medallist's punch output seemingly secured him a split decision in a close ten-round bout at the boxing arena.
But the challenger landed significant shots, landing some telling clean blows in a match where the techniques failed to mesh, with frequent clinching marring the action.
The scoring judges had it 96-94 to Buatsi, with the third a even score.
"It wasn't my greatest display but what do champions do? They prevail," Buatsi stated in the ring as he was faced boos from the audience.
The British fighter returned to winning ways after his maiden career setback - an epic battle with his previous opponent in last winter - to claim a 20th career victory.
Various analysts felt Parker, thirty-one, deserved the win but the contender experienced the second defeat of his 28-fight professional journey.
The Champion Claims Win in Slow Affair
His career development has stalled in recent times through management issues and extended periods of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the rising talent of UK boxing, he now is positioned trying to achieve expectations - perhaps in what seems like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He began cautiously, with the two boxers willing to be aggressive in a calculated initial rounds.
The challenger, whose only previous defeat came at super-middleweight against John Ryder in two years ago after damaging his hand during the bout, was participating in his second fight at the higher weight class.
By the halfway stage, the underdog had stayed in contention, causing problems for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to barely take the more effective stanzas.
The audience's tolerance decreased amid regular grabbing, with the challenger going down multiple occasions during clinches.
The underdog finished the stronger, but several stanzas were difficult to score. Nevertheless, previous titleholder Carl Frampton - working with Dazn - had it significantly in favor for the challenger, awarding Buatsi just a single round.
The victor moves on, but with the presence of power puncher Benavidez, and Russian champion Dmitry Bivol dominating the weight class, the road to world glory - judging by this showing - still appears challenging.
Ricky Hatton Homage Fuels Manchester Derby Contest
In the secondary fight, Arthur beat Bradley Rea by close verdict in a terrific Manchester vs Manchester contest to secure the European light heavyweight championship.
The venue grew hushed for a extremely emotional memorial prior to the bout as 10 bells tolled in honor of the city's native Hatton, who passed away 46 years old in last month.
It was the first major televised boxing event in the city since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell ended, the stillness gave way to a shout of "there's just one Ricky Hatton".
The fighting during the bout matched the emotion. Arthur was knocked down by a powerful punch directly to the face in the early round, getting up unsteadily to his footing on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red equipment of Arthur soon advanced again. From the other corner, the opponent - in opposing blue - was injured soon, significant bruising forming under his orbital area as the fighters landed hard punches.
The challenger, 27, delivered effective strikes but the champion, thirty-four, fought fire with fire with effective uppercuts as the action seldom decreased over the full distance.
The victor narrowly won the result with judges scorecards of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112, but both fighters were relentless and full of heart, all the qualities their inspiration the legend embodied.
