Ebanie Bridges beats Shannon O’Connell to retain the IBF female bantamweight title

Australian boxing star Ebanie Bridges has beaten bitter rival Shannon O-Connell to retain the IBF female bantamweight title in an explosive showdown that lived up to every expectation. 

The pair clashed in the biggest fight in the history of Australian women’s boxing as the co-main event for Josh Warrington‘s IBF featherweight title bout against Luis Alberto Lopez.

Australian boxing star Ebanie Bridges has beaten bitter rival Shannon O-Connell to retain the IBF female bantamweight title in an explosive showdown that lived up to every expectation

Bridges walked through O’Connell’s shots to pin her opponent against the ropes for long periods of the bout and land damaging shots, after recovering well from a big shot in the first round

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Bridges came out aggressive and walked through O’Connell’s shots to pin her opponent against the ropes for long periods of the bout and land damaging shots, after recovering well from a huge shot in the first round.

Bridges dropped her fellow Aussie with a stunning right hand in the third round and had O’Connell rocked – but the challenger fought back bravely and landed excellent counters of her own.

The Blonde Bomber was relentless however, and dominated the remaining rounds with superior stamina and more accurate punches – leading to the fight being stopped by referee Howard Foster in Round 8.

Bridges dropped O’Connell with a stunning right hand in the third round and had O’Connell rocked – but the challenger fought back bravely and landed excellent counters of her own

‘Not bad for a skanky stripper I must say, not bad for a skanky stripper,’ Bridges said afterwards. 

‘I’m not usually disrespectful to my opponent but she was so disrespectful to me the whole time. So I can’t really give her that much respect – she can hit but. She can bang.

‘She came, she was hungry, she was fierce. But I was better, and that’s why I’m the champion.

The pair have had a very public feud for months, with O’Connell labelling the champ a ‘skanky stripper’ and a ‘fat c****’ ahead of the bout, so social media lit up after Bridges’ dominant performance

‘I knew it was going to be the hardest fight of my career, and it was.

‘Team skanky stripper forever!’

The pair have had a very public feud for months, with O’Connell labelling the champ  a ‘skanky stripper’ and a ‘fat c****’ ahead of the bout, so social media lit up after Bridges’ dominant performance.

 ‘Sometimes you have to show a little respect for your opponent in the buildup. @EbanieBridges congratulations you fought inside the ring as hard as @shotgunshannon1 talked outside the ring. You did it where it counted. Great Performance!’ commented world champion boxer Amanda Serrano. 

Bridges’ promoter Eddie Hearn was impressed by the performance and remarked that he’d like to see Bridges fight for more belts

‘Best skanky stripper boxer in world,’ joked another Twitter user.

‘That’s some good boxing from a skanky Stripper lol Shannon should have focused on the fight and less on the s**** talking,’ said a third.

Bridges’ promoter Eddie Hearn was impressed by the performance and remarked that he’d like to see Bridges fight for more belts.

‘She can really fight. Being in exciting fights like that are going to take you to the next level,’ Hearn said.

The victory is just the Aussie’s 10th professional fight, and she will now likely look to contest a bantamweight unification fight

‘I really feel now that Ebanie Bridges needs to unify the division and try and become undisputed at bantamweight.

‘She’s so tough, she’s got such a great engine, she can punch hard and she deserves the credit now.’

The victory is just the Aussie’s 10th professional fight, and she will now likely look to contest a bantamweight unification fight.

 More to come…