LAS VEGAS – Kenneth Sims Jr. had hoped that his impressive upset of Elvis Rodriguez in May 2021 would’ve led to bigger fights by now.

Chicago’s Sims suspects that the most noteworthy win of his eight-year pro career instead dissuaded junior welterweight contenders from facing him. The 28-year-old Sims will box for the third time Saturday night since he beat the previously undefeated Rodriguez by majority decision, but against a late replacement and at a weight six pounds higher than he planned because his opponent, Rock Myrthil, couldn’t get down to 140 pounds on such short notice.

The eight-round welterweight bout between Sims (18-2-1, 6 KOs) and Los Angeles’ Myrthil (17-1, 13 KOs) will be part of the non-televised portion of the Frank Martin-Michel Rivera undercard at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“It’s frustrating, especially because I see how they’re still pushing [Rodriguez],” Sims told BoxingScene.com. “I feel like the boxing world has just wiped that loss off his record. I know it says, ‘and one,’ but you wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s frustrating, definitely, but I think just me performing so well in that fight is a lot of the reason that that’s happened.

“So, I think a lot of people don’t wanna take that chance of the same thing happening to them. I boxed, I pressed, so I probably did a little of everything. And it was like, ‘Wow! We thought he was just a boxer.’ I showed a lot of different things that I can do in the ring, probably spooked a lot of people.”

Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. terminated Rodriguez’s promotional contract after Sims defeated the Dominican southpaw in their eight-rounder at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The 26-year-old Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs) later aligned himself with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, with which Sims is also affiliated.

If everything goes according to Sims’ plan Saturday, he wants to fight an opponent rated higher than him in the WBA rankings in his first fight of 2023. The WBA lists Sims as its 14th-ranked contender for its super lightweight champion, Dominican southpaw Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KOs).

The Haitian-born Myrthil, 30, hasn’t fought since Las Vegas’ Kevin Johnson (12-2, 8 KOs) stopped him in the ninth round of their 10-rounder in November 2021 at Park MGM’s Dolby Live in Las Vegas.

“I don’t really know too much about him,” said Sims, who has won five fights in a row since Samuel Teah beat him by eight-round unanimous decision in November 2018. “I just got a new opponent three days ago. We went through like six or seven guys. Then they had one, he pulled out, and we got this guy. So, I don’t know too much.

“There’s one fight on YouTube that I seen. He looks all right. He looks OK. He tries to be a boxer, but I don’t think anybody can box me. So, I would expect him to try to pressure me. Nowadays, I like that. I like the pressure. I can handle anything, so I’m just ready for whatever he comes with.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.