Kenneth Sims Jr. figured when he was a decorated amateur that he’d have headlined in his hometown numerous times by now.

Sims' circuitous career path took him seemingly everywhere except Chicago, Illinois, though, over the past 11 years. That’s why he's ecstatic about boxing in “The Windy City” for the first time Saturday night since he was a 16-year-old.

Sims’ 12-round junior welterweight fight with rugged Mexican contender Oscar Duarte is the main event of a card DAZN will stream from Credit Union 1 Arena on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago (8 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. BST).

“A lotta people that know me has never seen me up close and personal fighting,” Sims told The Ring. “So it’s a big deal for me because when I turned pro it was one of my goals to bring like a big prime time TV fight to my city. That’s one of my goals accomplished.”

The ambitious Sims still believes he can win a world title as well. If the 31-year-old contender can beat the slightly favored Duarte, he’ll take another significant step toward achieving that goal.

Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs) has won three fights in a row since he lost to Ryan Garcia by eighth-round knockout 19 months ago at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Sims (22-2-1, 8 KOs) will enter on a nine-fight winning streak.

Sims is ranked fourth among the WBA’s contenders for 140-pound champ Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs), one spot above Duarte.

“It’s a good opportunity for me,” Sims said. “He got a good name, he’s ranked high. I think he’s the perfect style matchup for me. It’s the perfect matchup of a boxer versus a brawler, which everybody always says. And as far as like him saying the ducking thing, I didn’t really care. I said something at the press conference, but that didn’t really bother me. I just did that to mess with him.

“People have been asking me the last week if it’s personal. I don’t know him personally for it to be personal. It’s a job. We got a job to go in there and do it.”

Duarte, 29, claimed Sims, 31, ducked him because he withdrew from their fight when it was initially scheduled last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sims injured his knee iwhile training, but he was eager to reschedule it.

“He’s a tough guy that keeps coming forward,” Sims said. “That’s pretty much the gist of things. He’s a tough guy, he’s gonna come forward and gonna throw a lotta hard punches. I think his toughness is probably one of his main attributes. He can take punishment, so I’ve just gotta go in there and do my job.”

Sims sees Saturday night not only to enhance his status in the sport, but a chance to bring boxing back to Chicago with more regularity.

“I don’t really know why there aren’t a lot of fights here because people in Chicago love boxing,” Sims said. “I just know my goal and my plan is to change that, starting with me. Saturday is the first step in that plan. I put on a great performance, and then after that, hopefully, we can bring something back.”