Australian boxing world champion Ebanie Bridges has revealed she suffered a nasty hand injury during her win over Shannon O’Connell on the weekend.
Bridges successfully defended her IBF bantamweight world title, securing victory via TKO after the referee stopped the fight in the eighth round.
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The clash between Bridges and O’Connell was billed as the biggest fight in the history of Australian women’s boxing, and a war of words in the lead-up ensured it turned into a grudge match.
But Bridges dominated outclassed her compatriot, constantly pummelling O’Connell with blows to the body and head throughout the fight.
But she didn’t come away from the win unscathed. The 36-year-old posted a photo on social media of her right hand looking extremely swollen.
Bridges revealed a significant part of her training camp was done with only her left hand, but she didn’t entertain the idea of pulling out of the fight.
“Booked in for surgery on my hand this Friday,” she wrote.
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“A lot of my camp was done with one hand. A lot of my sparring only using my left hand. “But there was no way I was pulling out of that fight cos I knew I could batter her with 1 hand if needed & I wanted to, but now time to sort this.
“It’s a pretty intense surgery, they take bone from my hip and fuse my joints together. Bit of a lengthy recovery.. but I am no stranger to injuries. Lol.”
Bridges’ professional boxing record is now 9-1 and once she recovers from surgery, she will turn her attention to a unification fight in 2023.
Potential opponents include Dina Thorslund, Nina Hughes and Shannon Courtney, who handed Bridges the only loss of her career so far in an epic battle last year.
Bridges took the crown of the queen of Australian boxing from O’Connell, who was spotted sticking her middle finger up as the TKO result was made official in the ring.
It later emerged that O’Connell’s gesture was directed at Bridges’ friend and fellow Aussie boxer Skye Nicolson.
It explains why Bridges didn’t put the beef behind her when interviewed in the ring after the fight.
A jubilant Bridges declared in her post fight speech: “You know what, not bad for a skanky stripper!”.
The quip was in reference to O’Connell’s repeated sledge in the build-up to the fight.
“She can hit. She can bang,” Bridges said.
“She came, she was hungry, she was fierce. But I was better, and that’s why I’m the champion.”
Bridges described the victory as a real “How do you like them apples” moment.
“I’m not usually disrespectful to my opponent but she was so disrespectful to me the whole time,” she said.
“I’m very satisfied with that win. I hope the world, I hope Australia is proud of me now. We know who the queen of Australian boxing is.
“I knew it was going to be the hardest fight of my career, and it was.
“Team skanky stripper forever!”
She went on to say: “I gave her respect all the way through as a boxer, I used to look up to her.
“Of course I respect her for the fight she gave, it was a tough fight, the hardest fight of my career, but also one of the best wins of my career and the most satisfying.”
