The 51-year-old Bernard Hopkins has decided that he has one fight left in him, and he will take on Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. for what he says is his farewell bout before electing to hang up the gloves and call it a career. It’s a legitimate fight, 12 rounds for Smith’s WBC International light heavyweight title.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr.: Start time, live TV schedule
Hopkins says this is his last fight, but he’s not taking the easy way out, as Smith is a legitimate power puncher.
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) will take on Smith (22-1, 18 KOs) live on HBO World Championship Boxing on Saturday. The full fight card will get underway at 10 p.m. ET on HBO, and will be streaming online live via HBO NOW and HBO GO.
Hopkins is adamant that he will be pursuing a knockout of Smith despite his age and despite the fact that he hasn’t scored a stoppage since he dropped Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004. Smith, 27, has 18 knockouts in 23 career fights and has taken down six of his last eight with his fists.
Smith last fought in June, when he scored a first-round TKO of Andrzej Fonfara, where he won his WBC belt. He was born almost a full year after Hopkins made his professional boxing debut in 1988.
While Hopkins will talk a lot about being “The Executioner,” it’s hard to imagine him scoring that elusive finish at this point in his career. Instead, he’ll use the veteran savvy that has guided him so well in his old age, even if his current record hasn’t been the kindest to him. He’s 3-2 in his last five fights, but still has not been knocked out.
Smith has the power to put him away, and it would be hugely disappointing for Hopkins to go out suffering that kind of damage at his age, and just in general for the last fight of his career.
Hopkins has shown a tendency to frustrate his opponents in his old age. Rather than go for the knockouts that made “The Alien” famous, he uses every trick in the veteran book to frustrate his opponents and, ultimately, put them in a position where they’re down on the card and prone to make even more mistakes.
The full card includes a matchup between Joseph Diaz, Jr. and Horacio Garcia and another between Oleksandr Usyk and Thabiso Mchunu. Below is all you need to watch Saturday’s event.
How to Watch Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Location: The Forum, Inglewood, Calif.
TV: HBO
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