Fringe junior welterweight contender Kenneth Sims, Jr. will face Cristian Mino on August 21, Boxlab Promotions announced late Wednesday night. The 10-round bout will take place at the Caribe Royal in Orlando, Florida and will headline a Bally Sports Presents: Entrobox Championship Boxing card (7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT).

“Kenneth Sims, Jr. is on a roll and earned his way into (world title) contention at 140 pounds,” said Ron Johnson, CEO of American Dream Presents. 

Sims (17-2-1, 5 knockouts), who resides in Chicago, Illinois, is riding a four-fight winning streak, including impressive back-to-back victories. On May 22 of last year, Sims defeated highly-touted and hard-hitting Elvis Rodriguez by majority decision. Over seven months after the win over Rodriguez, on Christmas Day, Sims defeated Keeshawn Williams, another unbeaten fighter, by unanimous decision. 

After losing to Ronaldo Chinea in 2017 and Samuel Teah in 2018, both on ShoBox telecasts, Sims, an amateur standout, is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the deep junior welterweight division. 

The 28-year-old also fought to a split-decision draw against unbeaten Montana Love in July 2018.

Mino (22-5-2, 17 KOs), who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was knocked out by lightweight prospect Ruben Torres on February 18. He has won his last two bouts against journeymen fighters. 

The 25-year-old has lost to unbeaten fighters Howik Bebraham, Alfredo Santiago, and, most recently, Nestor Bravo Velazquez of Puerto Rico. 

In the co-feature, junior welterweight prospect Orestes Velazquez will square off against Emiliano Garcia in a 10-round bout.

Velazquez (4-0, 4 KOs), who is originally from Cuba and now resides in Miami, Florida, stopped former two-time world junior lightweight titleholder Juan Salgado of Mexico in his last bout on May 7. The win over Salgado took place over three months after the 29-year-old stopped Abram Martinez, who entered the fight unbeaten in the eighth round. 

Garcia (17-7-1, 13 KOs) lost by unanimous decision in his last bout on July 9 to unbeaten Julio Solis. The Buenos Aires resident has lost six of his last eight bouts, including defeats to Bravo Velazquez, Harold Calderon, Reynaldo Ojeda, and Otar Eranosyan, all who are currently unbeaten. 

Amateur standout Kevin Hayler Brown will make his pro debut against former WBA world lightweight titleholder Jose Alfaro (31-12-1, 25 KOs) of Nicaragua in an eight-round welterweight bout. 

Brown was one of the world’s top amateur fighters before defecting from Cuba earlier this year. He won the Cuban National Championship in 2019, defeating highly-regarded Roniel Iglesias in the final. 

Alfaro has not fought since losing by knockout to David Theroux in February 2019 and has split his last six fights.

In preliminary action, junior middleweight Derrick Jackson (8-0, 4 KOs) of Orlando, who is 20 years old, will face Argentina’s Damian Bonelli (24-11, 20 KOs) in a six-round bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

SUBSCRIBE NOW (CLICK HERE - JUST $1.99 PER MONTH) TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE