Kenneth Sims Jr. thought beating Batyr Akhmedov two years ago was a “life-changer.”

The Chicago, Illinois, native narrowly won their WBA 140-pound elimination match in May 2023, but Sims had never been in such an action-packed fight. Sims assumed a title shot would be his reward for digging deep that night and upending Uzbekistan’s Akhmedov by majority decision at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“I thought I was about to have the world in my palm,” Sims told The Ring. “I thought I was about to get a title fight because it was a title eliminator. I thought I was about to make a lotta money. I thought I was about to start fighting regularly, become a household name. But hey, things happen. I didn’t fight for over a year after that and now had to kinda build it back up.”

Sims still isn’t entirely sure why he didn’t fight for almost 15 months after defeating Akhmedov, a 2016 Olympian. A few proposed fights with contenders failed to materialize, so Sims settled for victories over Jonathan Romero and Kendo Castaneda that at least helped him stay somewhat active over the past 11 months.

Surprising losses to Rolando Chinea and Samuel Teah early in his career taught Sims how to persevere through trying times. He is thus optimistic that another quality victory over Oscar Duarte on Saturday night will enable him to get the types of fights he thought he’d secure once he edged Akhmedov.

“We’re here at this point again,” Sims said, “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.”

Taking care of Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs) won’t be easy in a 12-round main event DAZN will stream from the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena. The hard-hitting Mexican contender has won three fights in a row since Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC) knocked him out in the eighth round of their December 2023 bout in Houston.

Sims (22-2-1, 8 KOs) is confident Duarte’s simplistic style will help him win impressively in front of his hometown. If he indeed defeats Duarte convincingly, Sims expects to at least regain some of the momentum he built by beating Akhmedov.

“It’s been frustrating,” Sims said. “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 is the WBA’s fourth-rated contender for its junior welterweight champion, Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs). Duarte is ranked fifth by the WBA.

Duarte, 29, and Sims, 31, were originally scheduled to box last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sims suffered a knee injury while training, though, which led to Duarte defeating Akhmedov (10-4, 9 KOs) by unanimous decision in a 10-rounder.

DraftKings lists Sims, who has won nine straight fights since the late Teah upset him in November 2018, as a slight underdog against Duarte.

DAZN’s coverage of the Sims-Duarte undercard is set to start at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (1 a.m. BST). Two-time 140-pound champ Regis Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs) and former IBF junior lightweight champ Joseph Diaz Jr. (34-7-1, 15 KOs) will square off in the co-feature — a 10-round, 142-pound bout.