Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr., billed as Final One, was a professional boxing match contested on December 17, 2016, for the WBC International light heavyweight title.

[1] Hopkins' previous fight had come over two years prior when he defended his WBA (super) and IBF in a unification bout against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.

"[3] Only three days after his loss to Kovalev, Hopkins ended any retirement speculation and announced plans to fight "one more time.

[5] Froch, who was mulling retirement at the time, decided to vacate his IBF title and declined the chance to face Hopkins, calling such a fight a "lose-lose situation" and stating "If I win people will say 'he beat a 50-year-old man'.

[14] Just days later, however, Hopkins finally found an opponent after two years of searching, reaching an agreement to face Joe Smith Jr. on December 17, 2016.