One of the strangest boxing scenes in recent times is going to end a career.
Four days after a debacle that drew comparisons to the “Moonlight” Oscar gaffe and Steve Harvey naming the wrong Miss Universe, boxing announcer Dan Hennessey announced he is hanging up his microphone. The former US Marine cited the toll the incident took on his mental health.
Hennessey made headlines Saturday when he announced the winner of a fight between WBA bantamweight champion Nina Hughes and former IBF super bantamweight champion Cherneka Johnson. Reading the scorecards into the microphone, she announced Hughes as the winner by majority decision.
After hugs were exchanged and Hughes began celebrating with his corner, Hennessey returned to the microphone and told the wrestlers to reconvene in the center of the ring. There he read the same results, but with Johnson as the winner.
The scene earned Hennessey the scorn of many. That included ESPN’s Joe Tessitore, who criticized the “absolute trash clown show amateur hour we watched with the ring announcer“immediately after.
Hughes was understandably upset, too, both at Hennessey and at the judges whose scores he misread. She said that after the fight she felt “stolen” and described the night as “the dirty side of the sport I love.” She has already committed to exercising a revenge clause for another chance against Johnson.
Hennessey owned the mistake, apologizing on facebook a day later and assuming full responsibility for the situation. Unfortunately, he also misspelled Hughes’ last name:
“I own it. It’s all on me. I take full responsibility for the Chernika Johnson vs. Nina Houghs controversy. Not the judges, not the sanctioning body. Me. I have apologized to everyone involved and now I apologize to you. I’m sorry for what happened, again I admit it and I can only try to do better next time. Not my best day at the office. I guess all the shitty comments on social media are yet to come. They deserved better.
Those social media comments apparently ended up having an effect on Hennessey, as two days later he posted that he would be retiring after doing one more event for promoter Sam Rapira:
“I love all the support from everyone. Thank you all for the kind words. Unfortunately, the global reaction is absolutely incredible and is affecting my mental health to the point that I will have one more show. I am doing this show because I am still a man by word of mouth and I promised Sam Rapira that I would because he is a great mate and I refuse to leave him hanging. I love him and I will keep in touch with all my friends around the world. Thank you. I am no longer the punching bag of the world. .
