Oscar Duarte and Kenneth Sims entered Saturday night seeking the biggest win of their career.

In the end, it was Duarte who emerged victorious, as he went into enemy territory and earned a majority decision over Sims Jr. at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena in a 12-round WBA junior welterweight title eliminator. With the best win of his career in tow, Duarte now has his eyes set on the champions at 140 pounds.

“I'm ready for anybody,” Duarte said. “I won the title and I'm ready.”

Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KOs) has won four fights in a row since his loss to Ryan Garcia in December 2023. Duarte entered the fight ranked No. 5 by the WBA, while Sims 22-3-1, 8 KOs) was right ahead of him at No. 4. The Chihuahua, Mexico, native is only ranked in the top 15 by the WBA.

It was a tightly-contested bout throughout between the junior welterweight contenders. Sims’ ability to box and move and Duarte’s persistent pressure and ability to land power punches had the momentum swinging back and forth throughout the fight. Both fighters landed 229 punches, per CompuBox, though Duarte held a significant edge in power punches, connecting with 172 compared to 110 for Sims. The Chicago native landed 119 jabs compared to 57 for Duarte.

Al Gallardo scored the fight a draw at 114-114, while Mike Fitzgerald had it 115-113 and Nathan Palmer scored it 116-112 in favor of Duarte.

“I think I won the fight,” Duarte said. “Kenneth Sims is a warrior but I trained very hard with Robert Garcia and I have a great team.”

After 11 tightly contested rounds, the fight very much felt like it was hanging in the balance heading into the 12th round. Knowing the fight could go either way, Duarte did some of his best work in the final stanza, outlanding Sims 27 to 18 in total punches and 20 to 9 in power shots.

“I knew I had to put pressure on him,” Duarte said with Beto Duran translating. “I had to hit him to the body and take the legs away. I also had to take away his will tonight.”

A win will certainly move Duarte up the rankings and closer to a world title shot against newly-crowned WBA junior welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs). Richardson Hitchins (IBF), Subriel Matias (WBC) and Teofimo Lopez (WBO/Ring Magazine) are the other three champions at junior welterweight.

Regardless of who Duarte matches up against if or when he earns a world title shot, his size and pressure will be a handful for any one of the four champions at 140 pounds.