Hopkins vs Smith Jr: Live streaming results and round by round coverage

Tonight at 10 pm ET from The Forum in Inglewood, California, HBO closes its boxing year with a special main event between Bernard Hopkins and Joe Smith Jr, billed as the 51-year-old Hopkins’ final fight.

Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KO) hasn’t fought since a shutout loss to Sergey Kovalev just over two years ago, and hopes to go out today with his hand raised. Smith (22-1, 18 KO) is coming off of an upset win over Andrzej Fonfara, a first round stoppage in Fonfara’s hometown of Chicago.

The card will also feature two more live fights. Oleksandr Usyk (10-0, 9 KO) will defend his WBO cruiserweight title against Thabiso Mchunu (17-2, 11 KO) in the televised opener, followed by a featherweight clash between Joseph Diaz Jr (22-0, 13 KO) and Horacio Garcia (30-1-1, 22 KO), set for 10 rounds.

For more on these matchups, check out our preview from earlier this week, and join us tonight as we (probably) say farewell to one of boxing’s living legends.

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RESULTS

Joe Smith Jr def. Bernard Hopkins by TKO (0:53 of round 8)

Joseph Diaz Jr def. Horacio Garcia by UD (100-90, 100-90, 100-90)

Oleksandr Usyk def. Thabiso Mchunu by TKO (1:53 of round 9)

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ROUND BY ROUND

BERNARD HOPKINS vs JOE SMITH JR

Round 1: Smith wobbles Bernard just a bit with a couple power shots, and that wins him a cagey round. Smith 10-9

Round 2: Hopkins headbutting and cuts Smith on the left brow. Smith landing shots. Hopkins just looks old. Because he's old. He grazed Smith with a long right and everyone went banana. Smith 10-9, 20-18

Round 3: Hopkins landing a few little shots. But this is another Smith round. He's just looking like a better, fresher fighter. Definitely fresher. Smith 10-9, 30-27

Round 4: Bernard starting to find some rhythm. Shaking it off now. HE’S ALIVE. He's countering, landing some shots, and starting to set the traps. Hopkins 10-9, Smith 39-37

Round 5: I have Smith up 3-1 but I think Smith’s only chance is power. He won’t win four more rounds now that Bernard has felt him out. Hopkins with a good right. Smith should target the body more, but it's not really his game. And there’s Smith’s power, hard right and a left behind it, Hopkins ties up. Toss-up round I shade to Bernard. Hopkins 10-9, Smith 48-47

Round 6: Let's check in with Smith's trainer. JAB. JAB. JAB. JAB. RIGHT HAND. RIGHT HAND. HOOK. BODY. BODY. BODY. BODY. JAB. JAB. Alright then. I liked Smith this round, despite that. Smith 10-9, 58-56

Round 7: Very close round. I like Smith because he was the aggressor and Hopkins just didn't do enough to keep that at bay. Smith 10-9, 68-65

Round 8: Hopkins gets drilled and knocked clean out of the ring. 20 count. Who knows? we'll see. Smith TKO-8

JOSEPH DIAZ JR vs HORACIO GARCIA

Round 1: Solid first round, both guys loading up on power shots. Diaz getting the better of things, but is getting hit now and again. That's just how it's going to be with him, though. He's not a great defender. Diaz 10-9

Round 2: Diaz able to offensively dominate this fight so far. He's throwing and landing. Garcia just not good enough to challenge him early. Diaz 10-9, 20-18

Round 3: Always feel bad for TV commentators who have to find various interesting ways to say "this one guy is not as good as the other." Garcia is giving the effort, he's just out of his depth. Diaz 10-9, 30-27

Round 4: Garcia landing some good shots this round. I'll give him a round because I'm corrupt. Garcia 10-9, Diaz 39-37

Round 5: Diaz round. I'm not invested in this. It's what it is. Diaz 10-9, 49-46

Round 6: This round is spent with discussion of father/son trainer relationships and Jim Lampley rationalizing Leavander Johnson's death by saying he got to see Paris and London. Diaz 10-9, 59-55

Round 7: Diaz is a fun fighter but needs a dance partner to be really entertaining, because he lacks big power. But he's in control here, because he's just a better fighter. Diaz 10-9, 69-64

Round 8: Diaz does not have the power to break through to the really true upper levels, I don't think. Garcia is getting progressively battered here, but he's also not a serious opponent, really. Diaz 10-9, 79-73

Round 9: Sometimes Roy goes, "Oh, good SHOT!" Diaz 10-9, 89-82

Round 10: A solid, should-be wide win for Diaz. Garcia gave the effort, but wasn't good enough. But Diaz never cruised, I didn't think. Diaz 10-9, 99-91

OLEKSANDR USYK vs THABISO MCHUNU

Round 1: First minute has zero punches thrown and the Forum crowd is ready to dump on it. Awful first round if you like punching as part of boxing. Mchunu probably landed the best shot, the one real shot of the round. Mchunu 10-9

Round 2: More boos in the first minute of this round. Really an ugly, awkward fight so far, far more so than I expected. I know Mchunu is good and can be difficult, but I really expected Usyk to adjust to that. So far he hasn't. Mchunu 10-9, 20-18

Round 3: I don’t hate this fight. There’s no action but it’s interesting watching Mchunu out-think Usyk so far. More boos. One man just put his SOUL into a boo. His very SOUL. I do like Usyk this round. He got going a bit down the stretch here. Usyk 10-9, Mchunu 29-28

Round 4: Usyk loosening up here, starting to unleash some real shots. He's adjusting. But Mchunu is giving him nothing, either. Usyk 10-9, 38-38

Round 5: Mchunu now trying to work inside, landing some body shots. Usyk has started to get a real rhythm, though. Usyk 10-9, 48-47

Round 6: Usyk dominating now. Good uppercut and Mchunu goes down. He'll fight on. 20 seconds left in the round. Mchunu with a couple good shots late in the round, though. Usyk 10-8, 58-55

Round 7: Usyk totally in control now. Mchunu is being worn out a round at a time. Sooner than later, I think we'll see a finish. Usyk 10-9, 68-64

Round 8: Touch touch touch. Usyk playing around and kinda showboating a couple times. Mchunu landing a clean shot now and then but not much on them anymore. Usyk 10-9, 78-73

Round 9: Mchunu down a bit less than halfway into the round. He's just been worn out. Usyk has dropped him twice just by overwhelming him with activity. Usyk now seems done with this. He's ready to eat shots to put this away. And he does. Mchunu down again, it's over. Usyk TKO-9