Boxing announcer Dan Hennessy has had enough.
Hennessy caused something of a stir in a WBA bantamweight title clash between Nina Hughes and Cherneka Johnson on the undercard of Vasyl Lomachenko’s win against George Kambosas Jr. last weekend, erroneously announcing Hughes as the winner following a ten-round fight during which Johnson appeared to have the upper hand for the majority of the bout.
The red-faced announcer quickly made up for his error, calling the fighters back to the centre of the ring to announce the true result — a win of Cheneka Johnson — but this only served to further highlight the error, and ensure that the moment would soon appear on social media timelines the world over within minutes.
The ring announcer declares the wrong winner in Perth then corrects it 😳 pic.twitter.com/ze9Wxt6JaU
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2024
But despite owning the error and making amends with Johnson, Hennessy has announced on social media that the backlash has prompted him to end his ring announcing career.
“I love all the support from everyone,” he wrote in social media post this week. “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 1 more show ever.
He added: “I am doing this show because I am still a man of my word and promised Sam Rapira 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.”
