Bernard Hopkins knocked out of ring by Joe Smith Jr.

Bernard Hopkins was literally knocked out of the ring in a loss to Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday night in Inglewood, Calif.

Smith had Hopkins cornered up against the ropes and landed several shots that knocked Hopkins out of the ring. Hopkins fell out of the ring and was saying that he was OK despite the fall. He even was arguing that he was pushed out of the ring.

However, Smith clearly knocked the ageless fighter out of the ring.

I hope this is really the end for Bernard Hopkins. Good grief pic.twitter.com/OHSHCAcmfA

— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) December 18, 2016

Smith was awarded a TKO win 53 seconds into the eighth round.

This was Hopkins’ first fight in over two years, and it marks his second straight loss. He is 51 years old and less than a month from his 52nd birthday.

Hopkins entered the fight saying it would be his last, but you have to wonder whether this loss will change his mind. Somewhat unbelievably, this also marked the first time in his four-decade fighting career that Hopkins was knocked out.

“I might have got hit with a grazing right hand or left hook, and going through the momentum, he shoved me out of the ring. I tried to grab him on my way out. I believe I hit my head, but I didn’t go out,” Hopkins said to HBO’s Max Kellerman after the fight.

Hopkins was asked whether he knew that by rule he had 20 seconds to get back into the ring after being knocked out, and he said that his ankle, which also hit the ground on the fall, hurt too much for him to box.