Currently, it works like this: someone screws up, the world catches on to the mistake, lets the mistake go viral, the person apologizes, suffers, and then when the person reveals the extent of that suffering, everyone backs off and tries to achieve the same effect in their apology, as in the case of initial criticism and cruelty.
This is something we unfortunately see every day on the internet, but it’s especially fascinating to see it happen in a sport like boxing, which is not a sign of compassion or competence. Indeed, the idea that anyone in sports should be held to any standard is amusing enough, but vilifying an ordinary Master of Ceremonies for reading something wrong only serves to highlight the dangers of people jumping on the bandwagon and trying to react to every single thing that happens in the world .
That doesn’t mean it’s uncomplicated to forget Lt. Dan Hennessey’s faux pas last weekend; the truth is no. But in a sport rife with problems much bigger than the MC picking the wrong winner, one wonders why there was so much performer outrage in the aftermath. Was it really because so many people wanted to disappoint Nina Hughes, the woman wrongly declared the winner after the fight with Cherneka Johnson? Or maybe it’s more because a clip of personal embarrassment is guaranteed to get a lot of views on the Internet and because you can never have enough ways to tell the world that a man is terrible at his job?
Either way, Hennessey decided to end his 18-year career as an MC in the confusion that ensued. In a social media post, he said his last fight would be in Modern Plymouth and then he would be done with it.
“I love the support from everyone,” Hennessey said. “Thank you all for your kind words. Unfortunately, the worldwide response has been absolutely incredible and effective [affecting] my mental health to such an extent that I will have another show. I’m doing this show because I still keep my word and I promised Sam Rapira (the promoter) that I would do it because he’s a great friend and I don’t want to leave him hanging.
“I love and will keep in touch with all my friends from all over the world. Thank you. He is no longer the world’s punching bag. I’m leaving.”
In the grand scheme of things, this seems ridiculous; both the initial reaction and Hennessy’s decision to end. But that’s the problem with viral incidents: everything is exaggerated and exaggerated to the extreme to allow the virus to spread.
The truth is that it was a earnest mistake. On May 12 in Perth, Australia, a pumped-up Hennessey announced Nina Hughes as the winner, then withdrew his announcement and instead handed the victory to Chernece Johnson. This led to a drastic change of emotions for both Hughes and Johnson, and the speed with which Hennessey corrected his mistake only added to the whiplash and the feeling that for those so inclined, this would be a piece of comedy gold.
“I own it,” Hennessey said immediately afterwards. “It all depends on me. I take full responsibility. I apologized to everyone involved, and now I apologize to you. I’m sorry for what happened. I’ll repeat: I own it and I can only try to make it better next time. It’s not my best day at the office. I guess all the shitty social media comments I get. I’m devastated again and I apologize for my performance brainstorming. You all deserved better. Sorry again.”
Cherneka Johnson attacks Nina Hughes
In hindsight, Hennessey is not alone in making mistakes in the boxing arena or, even for one evening, being considered bad at his job. Honestly, if it weren’t for the ability we all have now to capture a human being at their worst and create universal attention for ourselves from that snapshot, a mistake like Hennessey’s would have been largely ignored and forgotten. If his gaffe had occurred before social media, for example, Hennessey would have heard only a few boos from the audience in the room, irate glares from the men and women in the ring, and perhaps some admonishment from those responsible for his appointment in the aftermath. That would be it. There would be no prolonging this humiliation, and there would certainly be no attempt to shame Hennessey for doing something he regrets. In other words, there would be space and permission to forget. There will be another fight, and then another.
Hennessey, no stranger to this world, has undoubtedly felt the change. Hired by Sky TV as a commentator in 2003, the former US Marine initially focused mainly on basketball, covering the Modern Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL), and in 2012 became the lead commentator for the FIBA Under-19 World Cup.
On the combat sports side, Hennessey, who moved to Modern Zealand in 1998 to become a DJ, was introduced to them in 2006 when he announced the K1 World Grand Prix in Modern Zealand. He later announced the David Tua vs. Shane Cameron fight for the Duco Events promotion in 2009, and also fought Tua’s last four fights and many of Joseph Parker’s fights.
It is now suggested that Hennessey, despite all this experience, is destitute at his job, which is the opinion of many people working in the sport. However, in times of need, Lieutenant Dan can always take solace in the fact that many of the same people who criticized him for doing his job poorly will be in Saudi Arabia this week reporting on John Fury head-butting a Ukrainian, as if it mattered and then covering a heavyweight boxing match as if a heavyweight boxing match was the only thing worth covering while they were in the Middle East. By the way, we call such people journalists. Or experts. Or commentators. Reporting and providing insight is their job. Their one task. Their duty. Their responsibility.
That is, perhaps the only difference between them and Dan Hennessey is that they are the ones who record other people’s mistakes and misfortunes, and therefore they are super-spreaders, and Dan Hennessey is other people.
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