Was Hopkins loss a KO or a TKO?

A brutal KO.

You were smashed out of the ring backwards by a number of unanswered punches.

Your spastic protests after the loss do not make it a TKO.

 

It was a ko he got counted out to 20 anyone who says different is thick

 

As you said, it's a bit complicated in this case, because Hopkins got up but only wasn't able to get back in the ring before 20. But a TKO is when the ref stops the fight before reaching the end of the count. So when a fighter's knocked out of the ring and the ref reaches 20, it's a KO. Boxrec looks to have got it right. And don't they go by the official commission verdict?

I think there's a better case for a DQ than a TKO, like Lampley said. A knocked down fighter has to get up UNASSISTED. Too bad for Smith if it has to be changed to a DQ win, but it might be right. Junior Jones had to settle for a DQ win in the Barrera rematch when Barrera's cornerman ran in the ring to rescue him when he was basically knocked out.

 

If Hopkins had stayed in the ring from the punch obviously a TKO or KO.
Being punched out of the ring and the resulting landing on that hard floor and / or lighting, seating and sound protrusions and patrons around the ring adds a shade of grey though. Slipping backwards through the ropes four feet down with no idea what's behind you, you may get lucky and land fine or you may not.

Judging Muay Thai / MMA seen a few guys get tossed legally or kicked / punched out of the ring and different decisions / outcomes given. Some able to continue, some not. Judged a MMA bout in a ring with a bout ending in a NC due to fighter striking a table with his head and getting cut / dazed.

 

It's a shame Hopkins is always a sore loser. That's a big reason why he was never truly beloved by the boxing world. No one likes a complainer.

 

anything against a 52 year old man is a brutal ko.