Joshua Buatsi cut a relaxed figure as he sank into a sofa after beating Zach Parker by a disputed majority decision at Manchester's Co-Op Live Arena on Saturday night.

The 32-year-old light heavyweight is one of boxing's most even tempered characters.

A few feet away, Parker's team railed loudly against the decision. Buatsi (20-1, 13 KOs) calmly broke down exactly what had happened over the previous hour.

"It wasn't a smooth performance but you can only deal with what's in front of you," Buatsi told The Ring, looking like he had just completed a competitive spar rather than a 10-round fight with world title consequences.

"He was on the floor I don't know how many times. At the end of the day, we're here to fight, to put on a good show, but he was on the floor. He spoilt it a lot, but we got the win which is the most important thing."

Buatsi did indeed get the win but it was ugly, controversial and frustrating.

In his first real test at 175 pounds, Parker (26-2, 18 KOs) boxed, moved, picked and poked. He negated Buatsi's inside work and dropped to the canvas time and time again during clinches. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. Buatsi struggled mightily to build any kind of momentum and found it all but impossible to land more than one shot at a time.

As the bell sounded to end the disappointing fight, most at ringside expected Parker to have his hand raised.

Parker’s approach surprised Buatsi. He expected the Derby man to try and mug him but instead, almost got his pocket picked.

"That's a good way to say it, but did I think that? Not really. I thought, 'It's a good fight, we know what's at stake so we're both going to put in the effort, not come and hold and spoil.'

"I didn't want to make any mistakes but he just wasn't engaging. Everyone's got their own style so I'm not saying to engage with me every time but the whole holding, being on the floor, you don't win by doing that."

Buatsi is a deep thinker and last week, he told The Ring that after losing his undefeated record to Callum Smith he spent a lot of time alone with his thoughts.

As the clock struck midnight and Saturday turned to Sunday, he was happy and relieved that beating Parker would help him move forward professionally but maybe the realisation of just how important the result it was to him personally won't set in for a few days.

"It's very important to get a win," he said. "In the interview in the ring, I said to the camera that I salute every fighter that's lost and come back. When you lose, you're like, 'Ah, damn, I lost' and you get in the ring and do it again, so I really salute everyone.

"It is a weight lifted off, because I didn't want to lose again. It wasn't how I wanted to win, but I've always said that when you go on BoxRec for years to come, it's not going to say somebody won by holding or by headbutting. It’ll just say he won."

Before their fight, Parker was the WBO's No. 3-rated contender while Buatsi was positioned three places lower at No. 6. The pair also held top-15 rankings with the WBC.

Buatsi can fully expect to receive a notable boost when the various sanctioning bodies release their latest ratings.

Boxing can be an unfair business. Parker deserves a rematch but it would be difficult to find anybody outside of his team wanting to see it. He may need to explore other options whilst Buatsi will instead wait for his team to bring him news of a 2026 world title shot.

"Interestingly, somebody asked Frank Warren at the press conference, 'Where does the winner go from this?' and Warren said, 'You become number one, the man to take a shot at it,'" he said.

"So Warren said it, I didn't say it. I'm very grateful I got the win, very, very grateful but, like I say, in a 10-rounder, you can't be on the floor like seven times and still think you won."