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

Australian boxing star Ebanie Bridges defeated bitter rival Shannon O-Connell to retain the IBF women’s bantamweight title in an explosive showdown that lived up to all expectations.

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

Australian boxing star Ebanie Bridges defeated bitter rival Shannon O-Connell to retain the IBF women’s bantamweight title in an explosive showdown that lived up to all expectations.

Bridges tore through O’Connell’s shots to hold his opponent on the ropes for long stretches of the fight and land damaging shots, after recovering well from a big shot in the first round.

Bridges came out aggressive and walked through O’Connell’s shots to pin her opponent on the ropes for long stretches of the fight and land damaging shots, after recovering well from a big punch in the first round.

Bridges dropped O’Connell with a stunning right hand in the third round and forced O’Connell to shake, but the challenger fought back valiantly and landed excellent counters.

However, the blonde bomber was relentless and dominated the remaining rounds with superior stamina and more accurate punches, leading referee Howard Foster to stop the fight in round 8.

Bridges dropped O’Connell with a stunning right hand in the third round and rocked O’Connell, but the challenger fought back valiantly and put up excellent counters of her own.

“Not bad for a skanky stripper, I must say, not bad for a skanky stripper,” Bridges said afterwards.

“Normally I’m not disrespectful to my opponent, but she was very disrespectful to me all the time. So I can’t really give her that much respect, she can hit, but . She can hit.

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

More to come…