Super lightweight veterans Arnold Barboza Jr and Kenneth Sims Jr receive the DAZN spotlight this Saturday evening, duking it out in a must-win main event in Anaheim, California.
Bad Left Hook will have LIVE coverage of the card starting at 8:00 pm ET.
Sims (22-3-1, 8 KO) saw a nine-fight winning streak go up in smoke after a competitive loss to Oscar Duarte last August, while Barboza (32-1, 11 KO) suffered his first-ever defeat at the hands of Teofimo Lopez the prior May.
Will Sims re-emerge as one of boxing’s premier dark horses, or can Barboza stay in contention?
Who will win Sims vs Barboza?
Barboza has two standout traits: grit and a complete inability to do damage despite visibly putting mustard behind his shots. He’s managed just one finish in his last ten fights, and while he tends to win in spite of that handicap, it figures to be his undoing here.
Sims’ catch-and-pitch counters are a generally effective answer to aggressive opponents. It was Oscar Duarte’s durability and power that kept them from carrying the day when they met; Duarte could shrug off Sims’ best shots, stay in the pocket, and come back with heaters that visibly affected Sims. Sims’ bad habit of planting his feet and weathering the storm won’t be anywhere near as much of an issue against someone who can’t meaningfully hurt him.
Barboza does have a reach advantage to consider, however. Sims can’t explosively close the distance the way Lopez did, giving Barboza a potential avenue to victory if he dials back the aggression. Problem is, Sims has an excellent jab of his own. If Barboza does hold an edge at a distance, it’s not significant enough to offset the razor-sharp combinations that Sims threatens at short and medium range.
I just don’t see what Barboza does to win here outside of maybe trying to bury Sims in output, exploiting Sims’ tendency to look for one big counter by overloading his system. Between Sims’ countering ability and nasty body attack, though, I don’t see Barboza maintaining that sort of onslaught without getting severely punished. Sims’ cleaner, heavier blows earn him a competitive decision.
Prediction: Kenneth Sims Jr by unanimous decision
