Ebanie Bridges is one of the rare female boxers who is capable of straddling the line between attractive model and respected boxer.
Bridges often dons provocative attire for her weigh ins but she may have just outdone herself.
She is currently booked to defend her title against fellow Australian Shannon O’Connell at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
O’Connell is not a fan of Ebanie’s provocative style:
“Ebanie has taken it beyond boxing by getting personal,” O’Connell said. “I’ll break her down and make her quit. I think she think she talks too much, she forgets what she says so she contradicts herself every time she opens her mouth. I don’t like her.”
“The rivalry probably came from me not liking the way Ebanie conducts herself. I’ve got a 15-year-old daughter and if I was doing the things Ebanie is doing it would be basically telling my 15-year-old daughter, ‘get your clothes off and you can basically get what you want in life’.
“That’s not what I’m about. Guy or girl it doesn’t matter who you are and what you’ve done – work hard for what you want. She knows what she’s doing getting on those scales’ half naked in her lingerie.”
Bridges was a ring girl prior to her stint in the squared circle and often comes to their defense:
“I was a ring girl. I love combat sports, I grew up with it, so for me to be at the fights. I loved it. I got paid mad money, probably more than some of the fighters to sit ringside.”
“I’d be walking around in a G-string – they don’t do the G-strings these days but back in my heyday, that’s how we used to do it. Why are people who aren’t us, trying to take our jobs away from us?”
“We love it, I loved being a ring girl. I don’t think it’s useless. I loved being part of the entertainment, being paid to watch those fights.”
“You’ve got people saying it is sexist, it’s objectifying. Maybe I want to be objectified. Maybe I want to make money, don’t make my mind up for me. You can’t have boxing without the ring girls.”