'I've been robbed': wrong winner declared in controversial title fight

By Hong Duy May 14, 2024 | 06:55 am PT

British boxer Nina Hughes said she was “robbed” of her bantamweight belt after the ring announcer recalled his declaration of her victory at a title fight on Sunday.

Ring announcer Dan Hennessey made a controversial mistake by announcing the wrong winner at the WBA world bantamweight title fight between Nina Hughes and Chermeka Johnson in Perth, Australia.

After ten rounds without a knockout, the women's bantamweight (57 - 61kg) world title match had to be decided by points.

Hennessey initially announced that Hughes had successfully defended her WBA title with scores of 95-95, 98-92 and 96-94. The British boxer hugged her opponent and exited the ring to celebrate the victory.

But then, Hennessey, without any apology or explanation, suddenly called the two boxers back into the ring to re-announce the results. This time, he said that the score was in Johnson's favor and she became the new WBA champion. The Australian boxer did not celebrate much, while Hughes was confused.

Nina Hughes (L) and Chermeka Johnson face off before the WBA world bantamweight title fight on May 12, 2024. Photo by Instagram/@_ninahughes

On BBC Sports, Hughes criticized the incident and demanded a rematch.

"How can they announce I had won and then change the scores? I thought I'd dominated early," Huges said. "I thought she won a few of the later rounds but I felt like I won it comfortably. It's a joke. I feel like I've been robbed big time. There's got to be a rematch. I didn't lose that fight."

After that, Huges took the criticism to social media platform X and wrote: "The dirty side of the sport I love."

Huges’ coach Kevin Lilley was upset with this result and called it a "blatant robbery."

For Johnson, she thought she had done enough to win and felt she was put in a position where she had to accept the verdict.

"I'm not the judge and I'm just glad that they figured out the wrong decision," Johnson said. "Nina was a tough fight. I'm not the judges but I definitely think I won that fight. I'm just over the moon I won this bout."

The organizers said the ring announcer misread the winner's name and the result of the WBA world bantamweight title fight remained unchanged.