Arnold Barboza Jnr has gone from the hunter to the hunted.

Barboza will face Kenneth Sims Jnr in a 12-round welterweight main event on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Barboza, 32-1 (11 KOs), spent years looking for big fights. Whether it was Teofimo Lopez, whom he lost to last May, or Jose Ramirez, whom he beat in 2024. Barboza couldn’t seem to catch a break. Now, after defeating Jack Catterall last year to win the interim WBO junior welterweight title and a high-profile bout against Lopez, Barboza has become a name others call out or want to face. Sims’ callout predates Barboza’s recent notoriety.

“I know he has wanted this fight for a long time,” Barboza told BoxingScene. “Now he has his opportunity.”

The callout dates back to Barboza’s days at Top Rank. Sims scored a marquee upset win over at-the-time unbeaten Top Rank prospect Elvis Rodriguez in 2021. Sims was calling for a fight with Barboza before that bout. 

Sims, now 32, saw a winning streak that dated back to 2019 snapped when he lost a majority decision to Oscar Duarte at junior welterweight last August. The bout took place in Sims’ hometown of Chicago, though he trains in Las Vegas.

“It gives me extra motivation, because I know how that feels,” Barboza said. “I can’t let this opportunity slip from my hands.”

The move to welterweight isn’t inherently new for either. Sims had multiple developmental fights at welterweight. Barboza, a 34-year-old from Los Angeles, has also fought at the weight as well.

“People don’t understand that [for] my pro debut, I fought at 147lbs,” Barboza added. “It has been 11 or 12 years since I did that, and it was time to move up [from junior welterweight].”

The bout features two blue-collar fighters who had to earn their places in the sport. Barboza fought his way through the club scene, selling tickets to get to the major promoters, only to have a prolonged path to the main events and title fights. Sims took two surprising losses early in his career but has since rebounded. 

“I think it is going to be a competitive fight,” Barboza said. “Kenny Sims is a very well-rounded fighter.”

When asked to reflect on going from looking for big nights against other fighters to becoming the first name on the poster, Barboza was quick to respond.  

“We worked hard to put ourselves in this position,” he said. “Everything was earned, nothing was given. We still look at ourselves as the underdogs.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.