Duarte And Sims Jr. Exchange Verbals During Final Presser

Oscar Duarte and Kenneth Sims Jr. shared their last words before their junior welterweight clash on August 2 in their final presser.

Since his defeat to Ryan Garcia in 2023, Duarte has rebuilt his career under the tutelage of Robert Garcia. He became the first to stop former world champion Jo Jo Diaz, followed it up with a hard-fought win over Batyr Akhmedov, and most recently delivered a knockout of Miguel Madueño. Those performances earned Duarte the No. 5 spot in the WBA junior welterweight rankings. 

Kenneth Sims Jr., ranked No. 4 by the WBA and fighting in his hometown, comes in equally confident. He’s riding a six-fight winning streak, including a decision victory over Kendo Castaneda. Known for his slick boxing and ring IQ, Sims faces his toughest test yet in Duarte.

Pre-Fight

“I’m very excited and motivated. I feel right now like I am a world champion. It will just take a little more time for the world title to come to me, but it will come. I feel like I have it now. I enjoy the work everyday. After I win this fight, I’ll talk to [Matias] and tell him, ‘I want you. Kenneth Sims talks, talks, talks … he’s a good fighter, he’s elegant, but he’s been ducking me,” Duarte insisted. “I’m ready to see him in the ring. No more talking. See you in the ring,” Duarte stated

“We’re here at this point again, and this time I’m expecting what I just said about what I expected [after] that fight. I’m expecting that to happen after I take care of this. I think winning this one moves the needle because I think Duarte is trending upward since that Ryan Garcia fight. I think beating him will move the needle and move me closer to a title shot. He wants a title shot too, so I think the winner of this fight moves up and whoever loses gotta start over. So, he’s gotta start over,” Sims said

Presser