Fifty-one-year-old Hopkins bows out with knockout loss (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Former world champion Bernard Hopkins’ long and illustrious career ended in a brutal defeat when the 51-year-old light heavyweight was knocked out of the ring in the eighth round of his final fight in Los Angeles on Saturday. A month short of his 52nd birthday, Hopkins lost by technical knockout to fellow American Joe Smith Jr at the iconic Forum when he failed to return to the ring within 20 seconds of being punched through the ropes. Hopkins had not fought since a crushing loss to Russian Sergey Kovalev two years ago and his first ever defeat inside the distance looked increasingly likely as the bout progressed against a man ranked second by the World Boxing Council.

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