Legend Hopkins loses final fight

AMERICAN boxing great Bernard Hopkins ended his fight career sprawled on the floor outside the ring as the 51-year-old lost to Joe Smith Jr in Inglewood, California.

Hopkins bowed out by accusing Smith Jr of pushing him towards the ropes in the eighth round before he tumbled through and landed unceremoniously.

The man who reigned as a middleweight world champion from 1994 to 2005, beating Oscar De La Hoya along the way, suggested Smith had let frustration get the better of him so had bent the rules.

A flurry of unanswered punches from 27-year-old New Yorker Smith Jr ended what had been a closely contested fight.

Referee Jack Reiss called victory by technical knockout when Hopkins failed to climb back into the ring within the permitted 20 seconds.

Hopkins, who in the autumn of his 28-year career added light heavyweight world titles to his record, becoming the oldest global champion at the age of 49, said afterwards that he may have sustained a sprained ankle in the fall.

But he also claimed Smith Jr had overstepped the mark. “It was like a push, a body push with an elbow or forearm,” Hopkins said.

“I can see a 27-year-old guy who can punch, big, strong, and you’re in there with a guy who’s 51 years old. He’s supposed to be frustrated, and he’s not blown me out, so I think he got frustrated.

“Am I comfortable with it? Am I at peace with it? No. But am I going to talk about it for the rest of the year? No. People can see the work that was being done and things unfortunately happened. They called it the way they called it.”