Hughes loses title after absurd scenes on the scoreboard

Britain's Nina Hughes was wrongly declared the winner after losing her WBA bantamweight title to Cherneka Johnson amid farcical scenes in Perth, Australia.

Ring announcer Dan Hennessey awarded the victory to the 41-year-old Hughes by majority decision before correcting himself and announcing the New Zealand-Australian Johnson as the winner.

The confusing sequence left Hughes looking confused as Johnson, 29, hugged her team after winning 98-92, 96-94, with the third umpire ruling it a draw.

“This is a joke. I feel like I've been robbed big time,” Hughes said.

“There has to be a rematch. I didn’t lose this fight.”

“How can they announce that I won and then change the results? I thought I dominated early. I thought she won a few of the later rounds, but I felt like I won her comfortably.”

Hughes and Johnson battled it out for eight competitive rounds before Johnson appeared to take control in the final two rounds, defeating Hughes 164-127 as the final bell rang.

With the victory, Johnson, a former super bantamweight titleholder, became two-weight world champion, while Hughes suffered the first loss of her seven-fight professional career.

“I’m not the judge and I’m just glad they made the wrong decision,” Johnson said.

“Nina was a tough battle, but I definitely think I won.”

In the main event, Ukrainian superstar Vasiliy Lomachenko stopped Australian George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round to win the IBO and vacant IBF lightweight titles.

The 36-year-old Lomachenko outclassed the 30-year-old Kambosos Jr. before dropping him twice in the second round. The moment the fight ended was a barrage of body shots.

After his victory, Lomachenko announced that he was seeking a fight with American “regular” WBA champion Gervonta Davis.

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