Oscar Duarte made sure that dream didn't have the ending Kenneth Sims was seeking.

Duarte’s pressure and power punching were enough to earn him a majority decision victory over Sims in a WBA junior welterweight title eliminator at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena on DAZN.

Judge Al Gallardo had it a draw at 114-114, while Nathan Palmer had it 116-112 and Mike Fitzgeral scored it 115-113 in favor of Duarte. With the win, Duarte (30-2, 23 KOs) has won four fights in a row.

“It’s a war that I expected,” Duarte said via translator. “He’s an intelligent fighter. We had a long camp and this is the kind of fight that I expected. I knew I had to put pressure on him. I had to hit him to the body to take the legs away. I also had to take away his will tonight.”

The stats backed just how close the fight was between Duarte and Sims. CompuBox had both fighters landing 229 punches, but Duarte landed 172 power punches compared to 110 for Sims. Sims (22-3-1, 8 KOs) was the more efficient of the two, landing 34 percent of his punches compared to 25 percent for Duarte.

After the win, Duarte called for a fight against any of the 140-pound champions. He'll get a ranking upgrade after besting WBA's No. 4-ranked Sims, for a title new beltholder Gary Antuanne Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) is yet to defend.

“One-hundred forty pounds, watch out,” Duarte said. “I want that belt. I’m coming. I’m ready for anybody. I want the title and I’m ready.”

It was a battle of Sims’ clean punching and ability to catch and counter-punch against Duarte’s pressure and power punching. Sims took control in the opening round, but Duarte asserted himself in the second and third rounds as he landed big power shots in the final minute of both rounds.

The rest of the fight turned into a tactical brawl, with both fighters having a strong case to win a majority of the rounds that could have gone either way.

Sims began to take control in the second half of the fight with his movement and clean punching, particularly with his jab to the head and body. As the fight reached its latter stages, Duarte regained control with his power punching and pressure.

Had Sims won the final round, the fight would have been scored a draw. Sims called for a rematch after suffering a third career defeat.

“I thought I won,” Sims admitted post-fight. “I boxed him. He caught me some, but every time he caught me, I came back, so I want to run it back... I need it. I ain't going to be able to sleep right until I get it back.”