Boxer Is Declared Winner In Championship Bout — Then The Unthinkable Happens
WBA bantamweight champ Nina Hughes was declared the winner of her title defense against Cherneka Johnson in Perth, Australia, on Saturday ― but Hughes’ fist-pumping celebration didn’t last long. (Watch the video below.)
Ring announcer Daniel Hennessey regathered the boxers and referee to read the judges’ scores again, which came out in Johnson’s favor.
The chaotic turn of events upset ESPN broadcaster Joe Tessitore, who called out Hennessey for reading the scorecard incorrectly the first time.
“Is this guy for real?” Tessitore said.
Hennessey later beat himself up over his gaffe.
He wrote Sunday on Facebook that he took “full responsibility” and was “sorry for what happened.”
“Not my best day at the office,” he said.
Hughes (6-1) said she was “gutted” by the reversal in an Instagram post, while Johnson (16-2) told The Athletic, “I was pretty confident I had won the fight.” She also noted that the referee began to raise her hand during the initial announcement, meaning he had assumed she had won the bout.
Johnson had a point. Watch the referee, who arguably had the best vantage point of anyone in the arena, start to flick up the Australian fighter’s glove as the new champion before Britain’s Hughes was mistakenly named the victor.
The ring announcer declares the wrong winner in Perth then corrects it 😳 pic.twitter.com/ze9Wxt6JaU
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2024
Now, Hughes knows how “La La Land” felt when it initially received the Best Picture Oscar in 2017, only to have it announced moments later that “Moonlight” had actually won.
