Arnold Barboza Makes An Impressive Welterweight Debut

Anaheim, California – Arnold Barboza (33-1, 11 KOs) made his welterweight debut Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and showed us what may have been the best version of himself against Kenneth Sims Jr. (22-4-1, 8 KOs).

He looked sharp, outboxing Sims to a unanimous decision. He outlanded Kenneth in 11 of 12 rounds, connecting on 34.4 percent of his power punches (Compubox). Arnold attributes his performance to the great training he performed with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear and to the game plan his father Arnold Sr. devised.

He stated that after the fight, he felt physically good and could go another 10 rounds if necessary. The move up in weight appears to have been long overdue, as the added 7 pounds greatly benefited him in the ring. He was accurate with his punches, reactive, and energetic.

The oddsmakers had Barboza as the slight underdog, and after the fight, he stated the odds were wrong again. After his strong showing Saturday night, it appears as though he may be fighting in a Southern California showdown with Golden Boy stablemate Alexis Rocha, who fought on the same card.

Rocha defeated Joseph Diaz via unanimous decision. Alexis came into the ring after Arnold’s victory and enticed a potential matchup. “We can do that next, I’m down,” said Barboza to Rocha. Who responded to Barboza with, “Congratulations, dawg, but I think Santa Ana and South El Monte would be a f***ing war.”

Both fighters also called out Ryan Garcia after their respective matches, but Ryan looks to be eyeing a rematch against Devin Haney in the near future. A Barboza-Rocha match appears to be the more viable option, with the winner potentially earning a shot at Garcia.

After the fight, he told the media he was also interested in rematching Teofimo Lopez at 147 and offered Jack Catterall the option to avenge his loss, but he declined his numerous requests for a rematch. He said he would truly like to fight for a title against any of the welterweight champions if possible, and is even open to fighting Keyshawn Davis, whom he finds annoying on Instagram.

Barboza demonstrated Saturday night that he still has much left in him and is hungry to earn a title shot. “I know Rocha wanted to fight, but honestly, I would like to fight a bigger fight, but hey, if I can’t get a bigger name, then we could go Rocha,” said Barboza of his future plans.

He suffered a cut in the eleventh round for which he received stitches. After being stitched up,
he and Sims shared a moment in the locker room, showing each other respect after having gone twelve rounds. Barboza said he told Sims, “I’m a Christian, and I’m a big believer in God. I told him, I don’t pray for victory, I pray just to keep us healthy. So, we can both get back to our beautiful families.”