Kenneth Sims pushes for a second -time: believes he beat Oscar Duarte

Kenneth Sims (22-3-1, 8 KOS) insists he did enough to deserve the victory in his 10-round majority decision loss to Oscar Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOS) in their lightweight welter title WBA Elevinator last Saturday night at Illinois University in Chicago.

(Credit: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)

The judges were close, scoring it 115-113, 114-114, and 116-112 for Duarte.

SIMS Game Plan Errors

Where Sims blew his chances of winning was by choosing a brawl with Duarte on the inside, fighting his back against the ropes during short pieces in many of the rounds. Sims dominated Oscar when he was fighting in the middle of the ring, using his injection and long reach to land shots.

The movement by Sims was impressive. It was like watching and Mayweather’s copy. However, he wandered away from his game plan and selected trading with Duarte on the inside. This tactic worked against Sims, as he fought the Duarte game and got the worst of it. He did not hold himself when he fought with his back against the ropes against the Mexican.

Sims, 31, says he wants to re -send immediately because he feels he has done more than enough to get the victory. Duarte Champions at Golden Boy Promotions are unlikely to cater for Sims’ application, as that was the world title eliminator to get a shot at WBA Antuanne Russell’s 140 lbs champion. That’s the battle that Duarte wants next.

Responding after the Kenneth Fight

“I thought I won. I boxed it. It caught me with some, but every time it would catch me, I came back. So I want to run it back,” said Kenneth Sims Chris Mannix Following his loss to Oscar Duarte last Saturday night. “That’s it. I thought I’ve won the fight.”

It would be surprising if Golden Boy agreed to allow Sims to fight Duarte again because he does not answer any purpose in doing so. Sims would likely make the necessary adjustments to defeat Duarte in a second battle, and would have missed out on his world title opportunity.

Chicago I love you‼ ️ Just a small piece of my story‼ ️ I go out there and give all my all. I thought I was marginalized but I take my lubricants as a man Congratulations Duarte hope we can run it back. Thanks @Goldenboyboxing for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream pic.twitter.com/8ojq5xh56x

– Kenneth Sims JR (@kennethsimsjr) August 3, 2025

“It wasn’t really adaptations. That was the boxing game plan,” said Sims. “So I boxed. I stood my land a little because I knew I had to do that, or it was going to become harder. So I stood my land when I needed to. I thought I had won the fight.”

Sims looked like he wanted to prove to the fans that he could beat Duarte in his own game by fighting him on the inside. In fact, at times, Sims got the best of it, especially when Duarte was tired or took too long to try to get into the perfect position to throw one of his shots. Kenneth’s problem is that he didn’t have enough in the moments when he was effective close.

Duarte punching power

“He didn’t hit as hard as I thought he did. He was more pure than he had a punching power, but as I said, I want to run it back. I need that. I’m competitive. So I need the S *** back.

Duarte is not a huge puncher, but overwhelms his opponents with his weight and body punching. He hits hard enough to press his opposition to his delivery. You could say from Sims’ swollen face after the fighting that Duarte’s power is still tremendous.