Highly-ranked super-lightweight contenders Oscar Duarte and Kenneth Sims Jr. are scheduled to face each other on August 2nd in an anticipated bout.
Golden Boy Promotions announced on Tuesday that the fight will headline an event at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago. This bout is a rescheduling of their planned November fight that was cancelled.
The original November fight was postponed due to a knee injury sustained by Sims (record: 22-2-1, 8 KOs). Instead, Duarte (record: 29-2-1, 23 KOs) fought and defeated tough Uzbek opponent Botirzhon Akhmedov by unanimous decision.
Duarte`s win over Akhmedov came two fights after his eighth-round TKO loss to Ryan Garcia. Since that defeat, the 29-year-old has built significant winning momentum.
Knockout victories against Joseph Diaz and Miguel Madueno have established the Mexican fighter as both a skilled, high-output boxer and a powerful puncher.
Kenneth Sims Jr. also holds a points victory over Akhmedov, achieved two fights before his most recent appearance in February. In that fight, he put on a dominant 10-round performance against welterweight Kendo Castaneda.
However, it was his eight-round majority decision upset win over Elvis Rodriguez in 2021 that truly brought `Bossman` Sims into prominence and significantly advanced his career.
Both Sims and Duarte are highly ranked by the WBA, currently holding the fourth and fifth spots respectively. The winner of their upcoming fight will be in a strong position to challenge for a mandatory title shot.
The current WBA super-lightweight world champion (140lbs) is Gary Antuanne Russell, who won the title by defeating Jose Valenzuela in March.
