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WATCH: Joe Smith Jr knocks Bernard Hopkins out of the ring

Irish-American light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr brought the curtain down on Bernard Hopkins’s legendary career last night at The Forum.

The big-punching New Yorker became the first ever man to stop ‘The Executioner,’ in what was Hopkins’s ‘Final 1’ in Inglewood, California.

A delicately poised fight up until the stoppage, Smith Jr sent Hopkins careening through the ropes in the eighth round with a succession of big hooks.

Hopkins, who claimed that he twisted his ankle in the fall, did not beat the mandatory twenty-count, handing ‘The Irish Bomber’ another shock win.

Watch Bernard Hopkins v Joe Smith Jr in full below (Boxnation commentary):

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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