The backlash for mistakenly calling out the wrong winner in a boxing match was enough for ring announcer Lt. Dan Hennessey to call it quits after 18 years.
After mistakenly crowning Nina Hughes the victor in a bout in Perth, Australia, against Cherneka Johnson before correcting himself, the internet mob turned out to be unrelenting.
“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 one more show ever,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“I am doing this show because I am still a man of my word … 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.”
Hennessey called out that one judge scored the contest 95-95, with one judge calling it 96-94 and the final judge scoring it 98-92.
While Hughes celebrated, Hennessey corrected himself, saying that the true winner was Johnson by majority decision.
The announcers on the broadcast, namely Joe Tessitore, did him no favors, furiously reacting to the error.
“Is this guy for real?” Tessitore said. “Is this guy, Lt. Dan Hennessey, for real?… Can somebody please, Mark Shunock, Jimmy Lennon, Michael Buffer, anybody but Lt. Dan Hennessey in this spot right now.”
Tessitore also mentioned that in the first fight, Hennessey read the scoring incorrectly from the normal standard protocol of scores, so the ring announcer had multiple mistakes that night.
Hennessey was clearly frustrated with his blunder, walking off very upset with himself after he announced the correct winner.
He attempted to rectify the mistake before that, apologizing to all parties involved.
“I own it. It’s all on me. I take full responsibility… Me,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “I have apologized to all involved, and now I apologize to you. I am sorry for what happened. Again, I own it and can only try and do better next time. Not my best day in the office. I guess all the s–tty comments on socials I have coming. Again I am crushed and sorry for my s–tstorm of a performance. You all deserved better. Sorry again.”
Hughes, the initially announced winner of the fight, was also upset.
“I don’t get how you can announce the winner and then change the scores,” Hughes said. “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.”