Nick Piccone
Philly’s own Bernard Hopkins got in the ring last night on HBO one final time before retiring for good.
Maybe he should’ve just called it a career after his last last fight. Because his fight last night at The Forum in Inglewood, California didn’t end well for Hopkins or any of us that were rooting for him.
It started off well, with the 51-year-old Hopkins holding his own against the much younger Joe Smith, Jr. Nah, he wasn’t going to win the fight, but he looked to make it not easy for Smith, Jr. at all. And then, the eighth round came.
Smith, Jr. knocked Hopkins out of the ring after a flurry of punches in that round and Hopkins failed to get back into the ring in the allotted 20-count.
It, um, wasn’t pretty.
Watch: @beastsmithjr knocks @THEREALBHOP out of the ring 53 seconds into round 8, ending the fight. #Final1 https://t.co/Pj2svLUlC9
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) December 18, 2016
Highlights of the fight:
After the fight, Hopkins said he was shoved, hit his head when he fell and that he twisted his ankle and couldn’t stand up. But, man, what a career. I’ll miss watching you, B-Hop.