By Edward Chaykovsky
51-year-old Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) will be looking to go out with a bang, when he returns to the ring for a final time on December 17th from Los Angeles’ iconic Fabulous Forum.
In the other corner, is hard-hitting light heavyweight contender Joe Smith, Jr. (21-1, 18 KOs), who is coming off a stunning first round knockout win over highly ranked former title challenger Andrzej Fonfara.
Smith is very focused on sending Hopkins, who turns 52-years-old in January, into retirement on a knockout loss. The fight will be televised live as the main event on HBO's World Championship Boxing.
Smith's trainer, Jerry Capobianco, is confident his fighter will be too strong and too young, breaking down Hopkins as the fight goes along.
Besides Smith's youth and power, there is also the issue of inactivity. Hopkins has been out of the ring since November of 2014, when he lost a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision to IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
"I think Joe’s constant pressure is going to get to him sooner or later. The things that are good about him are that we know he’s been twelve rounds a bunch of times and I think he’s going to try to get Joe into the later rounds but Joe has gone ten, he’s not like Kovalev who only went eight rounds [coming into the Hopkins fight]. Joe went ten rounds with the tough Will Rosinksy and Joe could have gone four more rounds after," Capobianco told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"I think Joe’s fights are a little easier to predict, there’s more things against Bernard than Joe’s power. Hopkins’ age is against him, his sixty four fights have to catch up to him, as well as the two year layoff. People may look at it and say, 'It’s Bernard Hopkins, he may win,' but if you really sit down and think about it, it’s real hard for me to think that Joe’s not going to come out on top in this fight. I know him and I know his power."
The majority of the crowd that night will be in Hopkins' corner. The entire event is being pushed as the retirement finale of the former two division world champion. Smith's trainer is not concerned after what happened in their last contest.
"When Joe fought Fonfara, it was in his home town in Chicago. The only people who were for us were the people who came with us. I’m sure it’s going to be on a bigger scale, but the whole ten thousand people were for Fonfara and I think this was a good experience for him to step up for something like this. I think once the bell rings, all of that goes out of Joe’s head. Even with Fonfara, he was totally calm and nothing bothered him," the trainer said.
