Arnold Barboza Jr. felt darkness engulf him last spring when he suffered his first professional loss in boxing via a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Teofimo Lopez.
Well, the Long Beach, California native delivered a performance Saturday night worthy of expelling any lingering demons. Barboza thoroughly dominated Kenneth 'Bossman' Sims Jr. toward a lopsided unanimous decision at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and live on DAZN, in a masterclass that not only allowed him to return to the winner's circle, but also made him a key boxer at welterweight.
Therefore, Barboza did not hesitate to call out several big names following his big win.
"Hey, who wouldn't mind seeing me and Ryan Garcia in this arena, man?" Barboza surveyed the crowd, while speaking with DAZN's Chris Mannix. "We'll pack this s—t out."
And Barboza was just getting started as he proceeded to also mention the likes of other welterweight world champions including Devin Haney, Rolando Romero and Lewis Crocker.
He even wanted smoke with Keyshawn Davis, telling Mannix the former lightweight world champion is "one person that's annoying on Instagram, if he wants to come up to 147."
Though Barboza called out those fighters, another boxer was quick to confront him in the ring.
Alexis Rocha, who defeated Joseph Diaz Jr. earlier on the same card, told Barboza that they'd have a "war."
Barboza was warm to the idea, saying "let's do it."
Regardless of what bout materializes for Barboza next, the former interim super lightweight titleholder definitely regained confidence over his handling of Sims. The bout had Barboza expertly picking his spots, hitting Sims and bouncing back to a healthy distance where he maintained his range.
From his shot selection to negating Sims' jab, Barboza showed his sweet science can be levels above even a skilled boxer like 'Bossman.'
Plus, he felt more comfortable operating at 147 pounds where Saturday night's win offered career resuscitation into new beginnings.