ANAHEIM, CA.- Arnold Barboza Jr. made his welterweight debut at the Honda Center live on DAZN and dominated nearly every round to earn a unanimous decision over Kenneth Sims Jr. (22-4-1, 8 KOs).
Barboza (33-1, 11 KOs) looked sharp, throwing more punches than he did in his previous decision loss to Teofimo Lopez almost a year ago. The judges also scored the fight clearly in favor of Barboza, with scores of 117-111, 118-110, and 121-108.
After the fight, Barboza told Chris Mannix during the post-fight in-ring interview that he wanted all the champions at 147, but Alexis Rocha stepped into the ring, and it looks like Golden Boy is heading toward making that fight happen next for Barboza.
In the opening round, Barboza got off to a quick start by establishing his left jab and keeping the fight at mid-range. In contrast, Sims tried to close the distance and used his right jab to make his way inside. Neither fighter did anything significant to win the round. Although the first round started quickly, the second was more of a staring contest with few combinations thrown.
Barboza unleashed more of a body attack in the third round as Sims just followed him around the ring. There were spurts where Sims landed a short right hand, but they were few and far between. The fourth round was more of the same, and the crowd began to get restless as they started booing. Sims did increase his punch output, and towards the end of the round, caught Barboza with a right hand.
Barboza stepped up his offense in the fifth round with quick and effective four-punch combinations that froze Sims every time he threw them. Sims went back to following Barboza around the ring and throwing one punch at a time. In the sixth round, Sims was doing more moving than throwing punches, and it was Barboza now chasing him. It wasn’t an action-packed round, but Barboza was trying to make it more of a fight.
In the second half of the fight, it was all Barboza, as Sims just couldn’t get going to turn the competitive fight on paper into one in real time.
Arnold Barboza Jr vs Kenneth Sims Jr Undercard Results
WBA, WBO, and Ring Magazine minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo (14-0, 11 KOs) forced Jesus Haro (13-4, 2 KOs) to quit on the stool after the sixth round, making Collazo the TKO winner.
In the opening round, Collazo feinted frequently as he focused on establishing distance. Haro was far more active with movement, using his left jab and overhand right. In rounds two and three, Collazo demonstrated exceptional head and body movement while Haro launched his offense, yet he still managed to land a surprising left hook to the body. In the fourth round, Collazo was landing combinations at will, while Haro was swinging at air because Collazo had already moved away from his position. Collazo continued punishing Haro’s body in the fifth round, and after the round ended, the referee was called over to Haro’s corner, and he then waved it off.
Alexis Rocha (26-2-1, 16 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Joseph Diaz Jr. (34-9-1, 15 KOs). The judges scored it 97-93, 98-92, and 100-90 for Rocha, who did get some boos from the crowd as fans felt the fight should have been much closer. These two veteran fighters emptied the tank in a fight that had no shortage of punches thrown. Diaz fought at his heaviest while Rocha drained himself to make the catchweight of 148 pounds. It was Rocha with the four-punch combination, and then Diaz would come right back and do the same. The crowd enjoyed every minute of the fight, giving the Santa Ana-heavy crowd what they came to see on Saturday night.
Gabriela Fundora (18-0, 10 KOs) scored a sixth-round knockout over Viviana Ruiz (10-3, 5 KOs) in a highly entertaining fight. Ruiz didn’t go down easily and landed a few good shots on Fundora throughout the fight. Fundora successfully defends her titles and puts on a fan-pleasing performance.
Joel Iriarte (10-0, 9 KOs) started the DAZN telecast with a sixth-round knockout against Rock Dodler Myrthil (17-3-1, 13 KOs). Although Iriarte was rocked in both the second and third rounds, he managed to weather the storm and knocked down Myrthil with a vicious left cross in the sixth. Myrthil did get up, but when the referee allowed it to continue, Iriarte jumped all over him, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
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