(MAY 26) Lt. Dan Hennessey has taken to social media once more, announcing
that he will continue his 18-year career combat sports MC career
after being convinced by Joseph Parker and Sam Rapira to
continue. [WBAN's comments: We are very happy to find out he
is not retiring].
It has been two weeks since Dan Hennessey went viral when he
botched the announcement of the winner between Cherneka Johnson
and Nina Hughes for the WBA World Bantamweight title on Lou
DiBella’s Vasyl Lomachenko vs George Kambosos Jr. unified IBF
and IBO World title undercard.
Lt. Dan Hennessey has been an MC for combat sports in New Zealand
and Australia since 2006, announcing big names including Joseph
Parker, David Tua, Shane Cameron, Jeff Horn, Tim Tszyu, Israel
Adesanya and many more. It was a rare moment for Hennessey to do
a botch, but on May 12th in Perth, Western Australia, Hennessey,
in a Steve Harvey-like moment, announced the wrong winner.
Even promoter Lou DiBella who initially condemned Hennessey,
took to twitter after the event and stated:
“Dan Hennessey had an awful night. It happened on the world
stage. While you may not like his delivery, he has been
competent, well-liked, and respected as a #boxing ring announcer
for years and has worked countless big cards on the Australian
continent. He's also a nice man …”
Initially, Hennessey made a public apology, taking full blame
for the incident, stating that it was not the judge's or the
sanctioning body's supervisor's fault; it was all on him. He
also announced his retirement from announcing, as the worldwide
backlash was significantly affecting his mental health. However,
he would make one more appearance on the 25th of May at the New
Plymouth show.
At the show were boxers Joseph Parker and Sam Rapira, whom he
had announced most of his career. Both boxers supported
Hennessey and attempted to convince him not to retire from
combat sports announcing. One of the added factors of this is
that Hennessey is one of the only announcers who can pronounce
Joseph Parker's Samoan Cheif's name, “Lupesoliai
La'auliolemalietoa,” which even the legend Michael Buffer
himself struggles to say.
After the evening, Hennessey took to social media to announce
that, after an amazing night of boxing and conversations with
Joseph Parker and Sam Rapira, he will continue his announcing
career. Hennessey posted a video online with the captain of
“F#@K the haters. You lost. I am going to continue my 20+ career
as an International Ring Announcer. Thank you all so much.
Special thanks to Joseph Parker and Sam Rapira for talking some
sense into me. I love you all.”
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