LOS ANGELES: Bernard Hopkins's bid to add one more chapter to a storied ring career ended Saturday with the 51-year-old former world champion spent sprawling out of the ring by Joe Smith.
In a fight that Hopkins vowed would be his last the 27-year-old Smith -- who wasn't born when Hopkins launched his career 28 years ago -- ended proceedings with a series of blows that included one of his punishing right hands.
Hopkins, who sagged against the ropes and then through them as Smith landed a final left, fell backwards, hitting his head and twisting an ankle.
When Hopkins was unable to make it back into the ring within the mandatory 20 seconds referee Jack Reiss called a halt, making it a technical knockout for Smith at 53 seconds of the eight round.
The result was booed by some of the 6,513 at the Forum in Los Angeles, and Hopkins insisted he was pushed, not punched out of the ring.
"I'm really still in shock," said Hopkins, whose resume includes some of the biggest names of his generation and an astonishing 20 straight middleweight title defenses beginning in 1994.
He became the oldest boxer in history to win a major title when he did so against Tavoris Cloud in 2013. In 2014 he beat Beibut Shumenov by split decision to become the oldest to unify world titles.
Saturday's result saw his record slip to 55-8-2 with 32 knockouts.
Although it wasn't the ending he wanted, "The Executioner" said he wouldn't change his mind about retiring for good.
"I promised I wouldn't," he said when asked why he wouldn't consider a return to the ring, adding that he had plenty to look forward to in retirement.
"I believe that the crowd and the fans know for a fact I went out a soldier," Hopkins said.
Smith improved to 23-1 with 19 knockouts.
The sometime construction worker said he knew it wasn't the result many came to see.
"I came here to do my job," Smith said. "This is my coming out party, too."
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