Shannon O’Connell believes Ebanie Bridges has “really disrespected” Australia by wanting their all-Aussie title fight to be held in Leeds and sensationally claimed the champ would “rather vacate than fight again in Australia.”
Bridges defends her IBF female bantamweight title against O’Connell as the co-main event for Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight title bout against Luis Alberto Lopez in Leeds on Sunday (AEDT).
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The fight is undoubtedly the biggest female fight in Australian boxing history, with both O’Connell and Bridges hailing from Down Under.
However, Bridges has since moved to England to progress her career and take advantage of her large following in the country.
It has O’Connell feeling “like it’s definitely an Australian fighting a Brit” and if anything, ‘Shotgun’ is “more British than she is” due to her father being born in England.
Perhaps that sentiment could have been avoided had Bridges opted to take the title fight to Australia to continue the rich run of world championship fights on Aussie soil in 2022, yet O’Connell was left fuming that was not the case.
“Other Australians have travelled and based themselves in other places,” O’Connell told foxsports.com.au.
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“Just the pure disrespect she’s had for Australian boxing. I’ve been told she was saying if we won the purse bid, she’d rather vacate than fight again in Australia.
“To me, most Aussies that leave Australia they want to come back and defend their titles or fight in front of their home fans, especially when they think they’re as global and as big as she does.
“So why wouldn’t she want to fight in front of her home crowd if she’s an Aussie?
“I don’t condemn her at all for moving away and making her career better, but she had this opportunity to fight in Australia.
“The money would have been the same for her as it would have been here because they (Matchroom Boxing) won the purse bid and Eddie Hearn could have put it in Australia.
“She’s really disrespected the country.”
O’Connell also clarified her “skanky stripper” claim that Bridges said she’d get plastered on T-shirts.
“She’s not a skanky stripper, she’s a skanky stripper wannabe,” O’Connell said.
“She is a skank, that’s for sure. But I’ve seen strippers look nicer than her.”
Interestingly enough, O’Connell’s bout with Bridges at the First Direct Arena in Leeds will take place after the fight night takes a brief pause so fans can watch England’s World Cup quarterfinal against France before resuming later.
It promises to be an incredibly rowdy crowd likely to be in favour of Bridges, who is a passionate Leeds United fan.
Remarkably, O’Connell claimed she has “been told they are banking on the crowd to spook” her.
The Queenslander also took umbrage with Bridges’ claim on the Main Event Boxing Podcast that the champ is solely behind O’Connell’s imminent financial windfall.
“I hope she says that to my face,” O’Connell said.
“Because I can tell you right now that this fight is happening because my manager (Glen Jennings) and my promoter (No Limit) made this happen.
“They tried to get out of it. She should be thanking me for her biggest payday because I know what she got paid when she won the belt.
“The only reason she’s getting paid what she is is because the only way Eddie Hearn could save her a** was to win the purse bid.
“I’ll be expecting that thank you from her.”
