HBO Boxing Weigh-in Results: Bernard Hopkins, Joe Smith Jr. Green Lit for ‘Final 1’

The Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, Calif., will be the site of the final battle in the illustrious career of Bernard Hopkins, among the greatest fighters of his generation or of any before. Hopkins will headline an HBO-televised event at the legendary arena outside of Los Angeles against Joe Smith Jr., a credible opponent but a sizeable underdog.

Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) has achieved more in his career than most could ever dream. He conquered the middleweight division in the late 1990s and early 2000s, having won at least one world title in the division en route to defending the throne a record 20 times. The Philadelphian also won world titles at light heavyweight and set several records for being the oldest fighter in history to win a world title, his most recent triumph coming at 49. But Hopkins hasn’t fought in over two years since losing badly to Sergey Kovalev in a fight that saw him relinquish the IBF and WBA 175-pound titles to the Russian. At Friday’s weigh-ins, Hopkins looked as sculpted as ever as he came in at 174 pounds.

Smith (22-1, 18 KOs) is coming off the biggest win of his career, which was a first-round obliteration of Andrzej Fonfara in June. The Long Island, N.Y., native crushed the former WBC light heavyweight title challenger and dropped him twice before torching him with 28 seconds left. Smith is hoping those good fortunes will continue into the ring against Hopkins, a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. Smith weighed in a pound heavier than “The Executioner” as he came in exactly at 175 pounds.

The action will be televised live on HBO beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

HBO Boxing Weigh-in Results:

Bernard Hopkins (174) vs. Joe Smith Jr. (175)
Joseph Diaz Jr. (126) vs. Horacio Garcia (125.8)
Oleksandr Usyk (199.5) vs. Thabiso Mchunu (198.6)