Nina Hughes Finally Gets Her Rematch With Cherneka Johnson

Nina Hughes Finally Gets Her Rematch With Cherneka Johnson

It’s been a long time coming for Nina Hughes, but on March 22nd in Sydney, Australia, she will finally get her chance of redemption and revenge.

Cherneka Johnson will rematch Hughes in the first defence of the WBA world bantamweight title that she took from the British fighter last May in highly controversial circumstances.

At the final bell of their first meeting, which also took place in Australia, Hughes looked a clear winner, and there was no great surprise when she was initially announced as the winner. But within seconds of Hughes thinking that she had retained her title, the two confused fighters were pulled back to the centre of the ring, and Johnson was then declared the winner. The ring announcer Dan Hennessey had incorrectly declared Hughes the winner before he corrected his mistake and then subsequently reversed the scores, leaving Hughes devastated when she realised the majority decision hadn’t gone her way.

“I feel like I’ve been robbed big time,” Hughes said in the immediate aftermath. Regardless of how you scored the fight, it’s extremely difficult not to have sympathy for how the situation was handled. This observer had Nina Hughes comfortably winning the fight.

Despite having a rematch clause and an immediate appeal being lodged, Hughes has been in limbo ever since that fight in Perth, and there must have been times when she thought the rematch would never come. But finally, a second opportunity at Johnson will happen next month.

“First and foremost, I have a lot of respect for Cherneka Johnson as an athlete – she’s a tough competitor,” Hughes said in a press release to announce the fight. “But this time around, I’m not leaving anything to chance or in the judges’ hands. I’ve trained harder, I’m sharper, and I’m ready to leave no doubt when I step in that ring.”

The rematch between Johnson and Hughes will be part of a big Matchroom card headlined by George Kambosos Jr. fighting Daud Yordan and an intriguing fight with Skye Nicolson defending her WBC world featherweight title against her long-time rival Tiara Brown.