Boxing commentator steps down following criticism for misdeclaring champion, now feeling he's no more a target for abuse.
England's Nina Hughes was falsely declared the winner by Dan Hennessey in a WBA bantamweight match against Cherneka Johnson during the undercard of Vasiliy Lomachenko's fight in Perth, Australia on Sunday. After Hughes celebrated her supposed victory, Hennessey reviewed the scorecards and brought the fighters back for a re-declaration. He then declared Johnson as the true winner, leaving a dismayed Hughes shaking her head.
Hennessey later apologized on Facebook, taking full responsibility for the mix-up. He said, "I own it. It's all on me." In an update on Tuesday, he stated plans to do one final show before retiring after receiving significant backlash worldwide.
Hennessey wrote, "I love all the support from everyone. Thank you all for the kind words. Unfortunately the worldwide backlash is absolutely incredible and it's effecting (sic) my mental health to a degree where I will have 1 more show ever.. I am doing this show because I am still a man of my word." He also mentioned, "I'm out."
Hughes expressed the devastation of losing her title to The Guardian. She said, "We were all confident I'd won, so when they announced the scoring I thought, 'Oh brilliant, I've got it,'" she said. "I had my hands raised, and they had even come over with the camera. I was just about to do the post-fight interview but then they started dragging me back by my hand.
"I was thinking, 'What's going on? What's going on?' And then when I heard the ring announcer start to announce the score again I started to feel numb." Hughes has since requested a rematch.
Johnson described her surprising win as "overwhelming" and a "rollercoaster of emotions". She said in The MMA Hour podcast, "The feeling is just something I've never experienced before. It's pretty crazy watching it again. There were butterflies in my stomach. How do you go from such a low point to trying to celebrate such a high point, you know?"
CNN has reached out to the WBA for additional comment.
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Hennessey mentioned that he will retire after the upcoming show due to the intense backlash he received worldwide. In light of the misdeclaration, boxing commentators should be more meticulous to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Source: edition.cnn.com
