A ring announcer’s error following a women’s bantamweight championship in Perth, Australia, on Sunday stunned the boxing world as reigning champion Nina Hughes seemingly reclaimed her title then lost it in a matter of seconds.
Hughes was initially announced as the winner over Cherneka Johnson, but her fist-pumping celebration was cut short when the referee brought both women back to the center of the ring. The announcer, Daniel Hennessey, then correctly re-read the results, which placed the Australian fighter Johnson (16-2) on top with a majority decision. Two judges had her winning, 98-92 and 96-94, and the third judge called the bout a draw.
The ring announcer declares the wrong winner in Perth then corrects it 😳 pic.twitter.com/ze9Wxt6JaU
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2024
Johnson said she had mixed emotions about the way the decision was read, but said she deserved to be champion.
“I was pretty disappointed when my name wasn’t called. I was pretty confident that I had won that fight,” Johnson said, adding: “I felt the ref sort of grab my hand, but my hand didn’t get raised. When they came back and they said that they had announced the wrong name, it was like, ‘This is my moment. That was my moment to shine.’”
Hughes (6-1) wrote in a post on her…
