INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bernard Hopkins' legendary 28-year career came to a thudding conclusion on Saturday night when Joe Smith Jr. punched him out of the ring and onto The Forum floor in the eighth round in a wild scene.
Hopkins, a month shy of his 52nd birthday, landed on his head but complained of an ankle injury and was unable to continue.
As is the boxing rule when a fighter is ejected from the ring, referee Jack Reiss administered a 20-count. When Hopkins, surrounded by medical, commission and promotional personnel, could not get back into the ring in time Reiss waved off the light heavyweight fight at 53 seconds to the disappointment of most of the 6,513 who turned out to see if Hopkins could go out with a win in his first fight in the 25 months since he lost two light heavyweight world titles to Sergey Kovalev in a one-sided decision in a unification fight.