Arnold Barboza Jr. impresses in his welterweight debut with a clear points decision against Kenneth Sims Jr. and wins the vacant WBO Global title at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Arnold Barboza Jr. made a dominant welterweight debut last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, earning a unanimous points victory over Kenneth Sims Jr. Barboza Jr. (33-1, 11 knockouts) entered the fight coming off the first loss of his career against Teofimo Lopez last May. Sims Jr. (22-4-1, 8 knockouts) also entered the ring after a loss to Oscar Duarte last August.
The judges scored the fight clearly: 117-111, 118-110 and 120-108 in favor of Barboza Jr. who thus secured the vacant WBO Global title. Barboza said after the fight on DAZN: “I’m not going to lie, I’ve been through a lot. But those who have stuck with me will stick with me until the wheels fall off.”
The first four rounds were relatively even on paper, but Barboza Jr. threw his punches with more vigor and began to pull away on the scorecards as a result. Sims Jr. showed a brief moment of aggression in the fifth round, landing a good straight right to the chin, but Barboza Jr. again finished the round as the more pressured fighter.
In the eleventh round, Barboza Jr. suffered a cut on his forehead due to an unintentional clash of heads, which encouraged Sims Jr. to go on the offensive once more. Nevertheless, Barboza continued to box in a controlled and tactically clever manner, maintaining control of the action and taking the fight to the final bell with aplomb.