There’s bad blood between Australian boxers Ebanie Bridges and Shannon O’Connell – and things nearly boiled over as they weighed in for Sunday morning’s (8am AEDT) title bout.
The two have traded bitter barbs for years, and will finally face off in the ring for Bridges’ IBF female bantamweight title. It is undoubtedly the biggest women’s boxing fight in Australian history.
O’Connell labelled the 36-year-old ‘Blonde Bomber” a “fat c***” and a “skanky stripper”, repeatedly hitting out at her habit of wearing lingerie to weigh-ins – something Bridges took to the next level today.
Just before stepping to the scales, Bridges took to Twitter to reveal she had started an OnlyFans account – where fans pay for access to private photos and videos, often sexual content.
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At the weigh in, the champion displayed a temporary tattoo with Only Fans and her account name on her stomach.
Bridges told iFL TV immediately after the weigh-in: “I just wanted the best moment to do that. I thought, you know what? I always thought about doing it at a weigh in.
“But with Shannon O’Connell calling me a skanky stripper and hating me so much, I just thought this is perfect. I’m just gonna put my t**ties in her face, put my at (OnlyFans address) in my face. My link to get there. I just played with it a little bit. She’s pretty bitter.”
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The pair had a heated moment in their staredown, exchanging some terse words.
Bridges said afterwards: “I just said to her: ‘Do I look fat? Am I still a fat c**t?’ And she goes: ‘You’re so scared. I can see it in your eyes, you’re so scared. You’re s****ing yourself.’
Bridges loudly responded: “I’m shaking in my boots.”
Bridges added that O’Connell asked her about a Covid-19 test yesterday, after a member of Bridges’ team was struck down with flu in recent days.
But she said: “I feel f***ing fantastic, I feel great. I think she’s just trying to say things, I think she’s filling her head with delusions like she has been for two years.”
And Bridges has no concerns over people who ignore her boxing credentials and instead criticise her colourful antics outside the ring: “I don’t care. Because when I get in the ring I do the job. I get in the ring, I’m a champion.”
“I have done a lot of sacrifices. I’m sick of trying to prove myself and get respect of people. Because the people that know, know,” she added.
“When I’m in the ring, that’s when it matters. Until then, I’ll make money off OnlyFans,” she joked.
She ended with a message to her countrywoman: “See you Saturday night, b****.”
The fight is the co-main event for Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight title bout against Luis Alberto Lopez in Leeds on Sunday (AEDT).
