Joe Smith Jr vs Bernard Hopkins - Highlights (KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING)

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December 17th, 2016. For his final fight, former Undisputed World Middleweight Champion “The Executioner” Bernard Hopkins took on WBC International Light Heavyweight Champion Joe Smith Jr aka “The Irish Bomber” who made the first defense of his title which he won via TKO1 over Andrej Fonfara back in Jun 2016.

Bernard’s last fight took place 2 years ago where he lost a lopsided UD12 to then unbeaten Sergey Kovalev.

Prefight records; Smith Jr 22(18)-1, Hopkins 55(32)-7-2.

Overall, the 27 year old Smith Jr had the better of most of the exchanges en route to a stoppage victory over the seasoned 51 year old Hopkins who showed apparent decline in reflexes despite his superb ring craft still in full display.

A clash of heads in round 2 resulted in a cut on Joe’s left eyebrow but legendary cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran was able to stop it from bleeding thus it was not a factor in the bout.

In round 8, the finish came when a barrage of punches from Smith Jr that caused Hopkins to be KNOCKED OUT OF THE RING in dramatic fashion.

Referee Jack Reiss began a 20 count (in accordance with boxing rules) as Bernard was assisted by a few individuals and stood up at the count of 8 but he was unable to continue, claiming to be shoved by Joe. Reiss went on to count him out.

Despite Hopkins' claim of being pushed through the ropes, video replays clearly indicated that it was a fusillade of lefts and rights by the young Long Islander that sent the seasoned Philly veteran crashing out of the squared circle.

This was the first and only KO loss in 65 total bouts for The Executioner who retired with a final record of 55(32)-8-2 after 28 years in the business where he defeated top oppositions such as Lupe Aquino, Simon Brown, Keith Holmes, Antwun Echols, Carl Daniels, John David Jackson, Glen Johnson, Roy Jones Jr, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, William Joppy, Kelly Pavlik, Tavoris Cloud, Beibut Shumenov, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Jean Pascal & Robert Allen (2x).

In Bernard Hopkins’ illustrious career that spanned across 4 different decades, he also achieved the following credentials;

1) Longest reign as World Middleweight Champion from April 1995 to February 2005:
i. 9 years, 2 months & 17 days

2) Most successful title defenses as World Middleweight Champion (20).

3) Second oldest fighter to win a world title:
i. 46 years old, 4 months & 6 days
ii. UD12 over Jean Pascal to win the WBC World Light Heavyweight Title (May 2011)

4) The oldest fighter to win a world title:
i. 48 years old, 1 month & 22 days
ii. UD12 over Tavoris Cloud for the IBF World Light Heavyweight Title (March 2013)
** Surpassing his own previous record

As for Joe Smith Jr, he went 2(1)-2 between July 2017 and January 2020. After that, he earned his first world title shot with a TKO9 win over Eleider Alvarez in an eliminator for the WBO World Light Heavyweight Title in August 2020.

In April 2021, he became the WBO World Light Heavyweight Champion via MD12 over Maxim Vlasov and made his first successful defense of the title in January 2022 with a KO9 win over Steve Geffrard.

For his second defense in Jun 2022, he is up against unconquered 37 year old WBC World Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Beterbiev who has a perfect record of 17(17)-0.

What are his chances against the fearsome Chechen puncher who has yet to taste defeat?

Let me know what do you guys think in the comments!

Enjoy this highlight of Bernard Hopkins' final fight and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE.