In what was intended to be a long-awaited backyard showcase for Kenneth Sims Jnr, while at the same time providing a platform for the potential return to prominence of Oscar Duarte, Saturday’s main event in Chicago also became something bigger: a 12-round title eliminator expected to lead the winner to a fight for a junior welterweight belt.
After it was all said and done, it proved to be all of those things.
In the evening's main event, Sims featured his sleek style and a surplus of guts, but it was ultimately Duarte who impressed the judges with constant forward motion and brute-force power, edging a majority decision at Credit Union 1 Arena in Sims’ hometown.
Scores were 114-114 on one card, while the other two had it 116-112 and 115-113 for Duarte – a result that accurately reflected the tight back-and-forth action the fighters delivered in Chicago’s first big fight card in several years.
From the jump, their styles meshed like a matchmakers' fever dream. Sims mostly controlled the first round with his jab and a sparkling combination, while Duarte, a 29-year-old from Parral, Mexico, snuck in several powerful body shots and an uppercut that scored. The visitor turned up the heat in the second, at one point catching Sims’ attention with a hard left hook upstairs. Sensing Sims’ trepidation, Duarte piled on more left hands, forcing Sims to back away.
Duarte kept coming in the third, and rather than stick and move, Sims engaged – probably too much, too soon. He landed a firm, single right hand that he took a moment to admire, which Duarte answered with a series of flurries – and audibly heavier power. Duarte wrapped a right hook around Sims’ guard and shook his opponent to his boots. Sims rode out a series of follow-up shots, but the look on his face at the end of the round was that of a man who was somehow just learning of the Chicago way: Never bring a knife to a gun fight.
Sims steadied the situation in the fourth, scoring with his jab – but also using it to slow Duarte’s inexorable march forward. Sims even slipped in several combinations to show he would not be going away easily. But Duarte’s power was undeniable, and when he answered Sims, it was emphatically, catching the attention of judges.
At the same time, though, Sims seemed to gain confidence as he worked through Duarte’s heavy artillery. He sniped off the back foot, firing and turning, managing distance increasingly better as the minutes ticked by and Duarte grew a touch more frustrated. It wasn’t exactly a master class, but all Sims had to do was have a bit more command over the material than Duarte to gain the upper hand.
In the sixth, Sims appeared to take control. He managed the space in between, jabbing and staying just out of Duarte’s reach. He fired off a 1-2 combination. He followed with a triple jab. But Duarte came on, landing a hard right hand. Sims engaged, and Duarte let his hands go, shifting the momentum slightly. An uppercut snapped back Sims’ head, and he went to the ropes, where Duarte pounded away. Sims fought back, showing resolve and staying in the game.
It was more of the same in the seventh, until the final seconds when Duarte finally had Sims against the ropes. He hammered the hometown fighter with a straight right hand and left hook up top. Sims stuck out his jab, but Duarte waded in and blasted him with an overhand right that sent Sims squatting to the bottom rope and bleeding from his bottom lip.
Yet Sims didn’t wilt. He stuck to his plan in the eighth, circling, jabbing, catching and countering. He blocked or rolled with most of Duarte’s most dangerous punches, and jabbed and pot-shotted to mostly keep the wolves at bay – though Duarte did land one particularly nasty uppercut before the bell.
Duarte came back a round later, closing the distance and digging to the body. Sims answered with countermeasures, opening up the cracks in Duarte, whose stamina seemed to be leaking from him by the moment. Although Duarte was still landing the heavier shots, it was Sims who appeared sharper – and he walked to his corner with a straight back and surety in his step.
In the 10th, Sims seemed to court overconfidence when he all but invited Duarte to meet him on the ropes. Was he setting traps? Exhausted? In any case, both men got in their licks before referee Mark Nelson separated them and warned Duarte over a couple low blows. When they resumed in the center of the ring, Sims was slicker, switching between orthodox and southpaw, countering with combinations and spinning away from trouble.
But if Sims misstepped in this fight, it was in the final two rounds, when he subtly downshifted. Duarte, although winded, wouldn’t let that keep him from winging away. Sims, for his part, backed out of confrontation a bit more, let his hands go a little less. Tentative might be a touch too harsh a description, but the eagerness to land stinging jabs and meaningful counters throughout most of the rest of the fight evaporated. Meanwhile, Duarte kept coming, heaving right-hand cinder blocks – and landing just enough of them.
The loss, especially in his own building, no doubt hurt Sims, 22-3-1 (8 KOs), though it arguably boosts his career prospects. He should get more quality opportunities under the Golden Boy banner moving forward, especially after parrying and putting on an entertaining show against a come-forward Mexican fighter.
Duarte, 30-2-1 (23 KOs), will move up another rung at 140, perhaps to a title shot against WBA belt holder Gary Antuanne Russell. In any case, he has left his mark not only on Chicago but a wider audience that is sure to welcome his bulldozing style in any future matchup.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
