Oscar Duarte is a man of few words in English, but it didn’t take much for him to make his intentions known when he steps into the ring against Kenneth Sims Jr. on Saturday.

“I am the new face of boxing and I will prove it this Saturday night inside the ring,“ Duarte said at the final press conference Thursday.

Duarte will go into Sims’ hometown of Chicago for a pivotal 12-round bout between junior welterweight contenders for a WBA regional belt at Credit Union 1 Arena in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN.

Sims and Duarte were first supposed to meet last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but a knee injury forced the former to withdraw from the bout. Duarte stayed on the card and defeated Botirzhon Akhmedov by unanimous decision.

Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs), of Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico, has rebounded nicely since being stopped in the eighth round by Ryan Garcia in 2023. He has won three straight fights and 14 of his last 15. In his last bout, Duarte became the first to beat Miguel Madueno inside the distance, knocking him out in the eighth round on Feb. 15 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Sims (22-2-1, 8 KOs) has won nine straight fights, with his last fight being a unanimous decision over Kendo Castaneda on the same card as Duarte’s KO of Madueno.

Duarte is ranked No. 5 by the WBA, while Sims is right ahead of him at No. 4. Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) holds the WBA junior welterweight title.

“I’m happy for the opportunity to take on Kenneth Sims,” Duarte said via translator. “I knew we were going to have a fight before this [but it] didn’t happen. Now, we actually have it. This is going to be a good fight. It’s a good challenge. I want to be a champion [and] whoever is in front of me, I’m going to take him out.”