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Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr.

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Final One
DateDecember 17, 2016
VenueInglewood Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBC International light heavyweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Bernard Hopkins Joe Smith Jr.
Nickname The Executioner The Beast
Hometown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Long Island, New York, U.S.
Purse $800,000 $140,000
Pre-fight record 55–7–2 (32 KO) 22–1 (KO)
Age 51 years, 11 months 27 years, 2 months
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 174 lb (79 kg) 175 lb (79 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition 2-divison world champion WBC International light heavyweight champion
Result
Smith Jr. wins via 8th-round knockout

Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr., billed as Final One, was a professional boxing match contested on December 17, 2016, for the WBC International light heavyweight title.[1]

Background

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Hopkins' previous fight had come over two years prior when he defended his WBA (super) and IBF in a unification bout against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Hopkins was knocked down in the opening round and would go on to suffer an extremely lopsided unanimous decision loss as he lost all 12 rounds on the judge's scorecards.[2] In a post-fight interview following the fight the almost 50-year old Hopkins revealed that he was "50-50" in regards to retirement and when asked to elaborate his plans later in the night at the post-fight press conference stated "Asking me to fight right now is just like asking a woman that just was in nine-hour labor if she was going to have another baby."[3] Only three days after his loss to Kovalev, Hopkins ended any retirement speculation and announced plans to fight "one more time."[4]

In January 2015, Hopkins expressed interest in moving down to the super middleweight division to either challenge WBA and IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch for his titles, or face super middleweight contenders James DeGale or George Groves.[5] Froch, who was mulling retirement at the time, decided to vacate his IBF title and declined the chance to face Hopkins, calling such a fight a "lose-lose situation" and stating "If I win people will say 'he beat a 50-year-old man'. If I lose people would say 'what's going on? You've ruined your legacy."[6] With Froch now out of the picture, Hopkins turned his attention to DeGale, who would win the IBF super middleweight title Froch had vacated in May 2015.[7] Negotiations between the two fighters, Hopkins claimed, were in the advanced stages with the fight set to take place in DeGale's native England,[8] however, talks eventually stalled and DeGale instead agreed to make his first title defense against former Lucian Bute.[9] Hopkins would then begin negotiations with then-WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, with Hopkins going as far to tell USA Today that a fight with Abraham would "absolutely" happen, but Abraham chose to instead face Martin Murray.[10][11] Hopkins next eyed undefeated unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin with the proposed fight happening at the 168 super middleweight limit. Golovkin expressed some interest in the fight, giving it a "50/50" chance of happening and both Golovkin's manager Tom Loeffler and Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez admitted to being engaged in talks about the fight.[12] This fight too fell through when Golovkin instead took a fight with his mandatory challenger Dominic Wade, with Hopkins telling the media that the window to face Golovkin "had closed."[13] With no further announcements regarding a possible opponent, Hopkins reiterated in October his wish for a final fight, though Gomez stated that while they were still looking at opportunities, "absolutely nothing" was set in regards to a possible opponent or date.[14] Just days later, however, Hopkins finally found an opponent after two years of searching, reaching an agreement to face Joe Smith Jr. on December 17, 2016.[15] Hopkins confirmed that the fight would be his last and reverted to his famous longtime nickname "The Executioner" after having used "The Alien" for his three previous fights.[16]

The fight

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Smith was able to get off to a strong start, out landing Hopkins 14–4 in punches during the first round and served as the aggressor throughout the fight, backing up Hopkins frequently, who implemented his usual defensive approach. In the second round, an accidental clash of heads opened up a gash above Smith's left eyebrow, though his cut man was able to control the bleeding and it did not become a factor as Smith controlled most of the fight thereafter. The fight came to a bizarre conclusion early in the eighth round. While Hopkins was backed into a corner, Smith landed a right-left-right-left combination that sent Hopkins between the ropes and onto the floor back first. As the referee began to administer the 20-count given to a boxer who has exited the ring, Hopkins was able to get back up at the count of eight, but an injured ankle suffered from the fall prevented him from returning to the ring and was counted out. After some confusion, Smith was named the winner by technical knockout after referee Jack Weiss determined that Hopkins injury had occurred due to a legal punch. becoming the only fighter to score a knockout victory over Hopkins.[17]

Aftermath

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In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Hopkins maintained that he had been shoved out of the ring by Smith and felt the result should have been changed to a no contest rather than a TKO victory for Smith, stating "The reason I said I'm upset they are giving Smith the TKO is because the momentum threw me through the ropes, I didn't dive through the ropes." When asked if the disappointing result would lead to him fighting once more, Hopkins reiterated that that despite the result, he would not fight again telling HBO analyst Max Kellerman "This is my last fight, I promised it would be, and you come to that point in life where it is final and I'm happy with my retirement."[18]

Fight card

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Confirmed bouts:[19]

Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Notes
Light Heavyweight 175 lbs. Joe Smith Jr. (c) def Bernard Hopkins KO 8/12 Note 1
Cruiserweight 200 lbs. Oleksandr Usyk (c) def. Thabiso Mchunu KO 9/12 Note 2
Super Featherweight 130 lbs. Carlos Morales (c) def. Charles Huerta SD 10/10 Note 3
Featherweight 126 lbs. Joseph Diaz def. Horacio García UD 10/10 Note 4
Middleweight 160 lbs. Jason Quigley def. Jorge Melendez KO 1/10
Light Heavyweight 175 lbs. Yamaguchi Falcão def. Germán Pérez TKO 1/10
Featherweight 126 lbs. Joet Gonzalez def. Jairo Ochoa Martinez KO 4/8
Lightweight 135 lbs. Christian Gonzalez def. Jonathan Perez KO 3/8
Lightweight 135 lbs. Jesus Ivan Delgado def. Roberto Carlos Rivera TKO 6/8
Lightweight 135 lbs. Ryan Garcia def. José Antonio Martínez KO 2/6

^Note 1 For WBC International light heavyweight title
^Note 2 For WBO Cruiserweight title
^Note 3 For NABF Super Featherweight title
^Note 4 For NABF Featherweight title

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 Hungary Sport 1
Latin America Canal Space
 Panama COS
 United Kingdom BoxNation
 United States HBO

References

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  1. ^ "Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. ^ Challenger Sergey Kovalev Wins Two Titles From Bernard Hopkins, NY Times article, 2014-11-09 Retrieved on 2024-08-19
  3. ^ Bernard Hopkins Weighs Retirement but Still Plans to Train, NY Times article, 2014-11-10 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  4. ^ Hopkins Says He’s Still in the Game, NY Times article, 2014-11-12 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  5. ^ Bernard Hopkins could step down to super-middleweight before he retires in 2015, Sky Sports article, 2015-01-16 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  6. ^ Carl Froch: Bernard Hopkins fight would be a 'lose-lose situation', BBC article, 2015-02-06 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  7. ^ Another Fight for Hopkins?, Philadelphia Inquirer article, 2015-06-04 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  8. ^ Bernard Hopkins Vs. James DeGale Negotiations In Advanced Stages, Boxing News 24, 2015-06-11 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  9. ^ DeGale versus Bute set for Quebec, Canada, on Nov. 28, The Ring article, 2015-10-04 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  10. ^ Farewell: Bernard Hopkins says title fight vs. Arthur Abraham will 'absolutely' happen, USA Today article, 2015-08-19 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  11. ^ Arthur Abraham to defend WBO title against Martin Murray on Nov. 21, USA Today article, 2015-10-07 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  12. ^ Gennady Golovkin Could Face Bernard Hopkins Next, Vice TV article, 2016-02-23 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  13. ^ Bernard Hopkins says ‘window has closed’ on facing Golovkin, The Ring article, 2016-03-03 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  14. ^ Bernard Hopkin's Final Fight: Golden Boy President Gives Status, Boxing Scene article, 2016-10-12 Retrieved on 2024-08-20
  15. ^ Deal in place for Smith vs. Hopkins Dec. 17 on HBO, The Ring article, 2016-10-17 Retrieved on 2024-08-21
  16. ^ Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith: Fight Date Announced, Comments and Reaction, Bleacher Report article, 2016-10-17 Retrieved on 2024-08-21
  17. ^ Bernard Hopkins falls out of the ring to a TKO in loss to Joe Smith Jr., LA Times article, 2016-12-17 Retrieved on 2024-08-21
  18. ^ Bernard Hopkins knocked out of ring by Joe Smith Jr. in final fight, ESPN article, 2016-12-18 Retrieved on 2024-08-21
  19. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Bernard Hopkins's bouts
17 December 2016 		Retired
Preceded by Joe Smith Jr.'s bouts
17 December 2016 		Succeeded by
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