Hughes fight ring announcer Hennessey ‘to quit the sport’

Dan Hennessey, the ring announcer who mistakenly pronounced Britain’s Nina Hughes as victorious, has said he will ‘quit the sport’ due to the reaction he has received.

Frantic and chaotic scenes with the scorecard saw Hennessey mistakenly announce Hughes as the winner at the weekend, before going on to correct his error in Perth in Australia, as Hughes suffered the first loss of her seven-fight professional career to Cherneka Johnson.

According to Hennessey, who posted on social media, he will do one more fight night before retiring from the sport: “I love all the support from everyone. Thank you all for the kind words. Unfortunately the worldwide backlash is absolutely incredible and it’s affecting my mental health to a degree where I will have one more show.

“I am doing this show because I am still a man of my word and promised Sam Rapira [Kiwi light-heavyweight boxer] that I would do it because he is a great mate and I refuse to leave him hanging.

“I love and will keep in touch with all my friends from around the world. Thank you. No longer the world’s punching bag. I’m out.”

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After the fight, 41-year-old Hughes said: “I just don’t get it. How can they announce I had won and then change the scores? I thought I’d dominated early. I thought she won a few of the later rounds but I felt like I won it comfortably.

“I don’t get how you can announce the winner and then change the scores. It’s a joke. I feel like I’ve been robbed big time. There’s got to be a rematch. I didn’t lose that fight.”

In her post-fight press conference, Hughes added: “I’ve got no words. I was countering her jabs with three or four shots; I don’t see how you can win a fight just landing a jab when you get hit with three or four shots every time.

“The ring announcer obviously thought I’d won, that is why he looked at the scorecard and announced it that way. So, to have it overturned…”

Hughes later took to social media and tweeted: “The dirty side of the sport I love.”

A split decision in Johnson’s favour saw the Australian snatch the title with scores of 98-92 and 96-94, with the final judge scoring the bout as a draw.

Hughes’ trainer Kevin Lilley fumed, labelling the result a “blatant robbery” and claiming his fighter had been set up in Perth.

“We have all the respect in the world for Cherneka and her team, they have been good the way through, but that is bull****,” he said. “We’ve been brought over here and set up from day dot.

“That girl has been blatantly robbed tonight, and to do it like that. [To score the fight] eight rounds to two is a blatant robbery. Anyone with a pair of eyes [could see], the girl has won the fight clearly.

“Cherneka has come into the dressing room, stood there, and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not the judge’. The rematch has to happen.”

Image:
Aussie Cherneka Johnson was eventually declared the winner, after a strong display (Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

Speaking immediately after, Johnson thought she had done enough to win and originally felt she was put in a position where she “just had to accept” the verdict when Hughes was initially read out as the victor.

“I’m not the judge and I’m just glad that they figured out the wrong decision,” Johnson said. “Nina was a tough fight. I’m not the judges but I definitely think I won that fight. I’m just over the moon I won this bout.”

In the main event of the evening, a dominant Vasiliy Lomachenko stopped George Kambosos Jr in the 11th round to win the IBF lightweight title in Perth.

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