Hughes loses title after farcical scoreboard scenes
Britain's Nina Hughes was wrongly named as the winner as she lost her WBA bantamweight title to Cherneka Johnson amid farcical scenes in Perth, Australia.
Ring announcer Dan Hennessey awarded the win by majority decision to Hughes, 41, before correcting himself and announcing New Zealand-Australian Johnson as the victor.
The confusing sequence left Hughes looking bewildered as Johnson, 29, embraced her team after winning 98-92, 96-94, with the third judge scoring it as a draw.
"It’s a joke. I feel like I’ve been robbed big time," said Hughes.
"There’s got to be a rematch. I didn’t lose that fight.
"How can they announce I had won and then change the scores? I thought I’d dominated early. I thought she won a few of the later rounds but I felt like I won it comfortably."
Hughes and Johnson fought out a competitive eight rounds before Johnson appeared to take control in the final two, out-punching Hughes by 164-127 when the final bell sounded.
In victory Johnson, a former super bantamweight title holder, became a two-weight world champion, while Hughes suffered the first defeat of her seven-fight professional career.
"I'm not the judge and I'm just glad that they figured out the wrong decision," said Johnson.
"Nina was a tough fight but I definitely think I won."
In the main event, Ukrainian great Vasiliy Lomachenko stopped Australia's George Kambosos Jr in the 11th round to win the IBO and vacant IBF lightweight titles.
Lomachenko, 36, outclassed Kambosos Jr, 30, before dropping him twice in the second round, with the fight-ending moment resulting from a flurry of body shots.
Following his victory, Lomachenko announced he would be targeting a bout with American WBA 'regular' champion Gervonta Davis.
