Ebanie Bridges will defend her IBF bantamweight title against Shannon O’Connell tonight.
The ‘Blonde Bomber’ beat Maria Cecilia Roman at Leeds’ First Direct Arena in March to claim the gold.
She will now return to the venue to put that crown on the line against experienced Australian ‘Shotgun Shannon’.
The clash will be the chief support to Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight title bout against Luis Alberto Lopez.
There’s plenty of bad blood between Bridges and O’Connell and that should make for a cracking contest.
Bridges vs O’Connell: Date and start time
This 10-round bantamweight title clash will take place on Saturday, December 10.
The fight will take place at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
The undercard is set to get underway from 6pm with Bridges vs O’Connell expected at around 9pm.
Bridges vs O’Connell: TV channel and live stream
The fight will be broadcast live on DAZN and it can be live-streamed via the UK DAZN app.
For new customers, it will cost only £7.99 to become a member and the fight will be available to watch on all mobile devices and tablets.
Bridges vs O’Connell: Undercard
Subject to change
- MAIN EVENT: Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez – for IBF featherweight title
- Ebanie Bridges vs Shannon O’Connell – for IBF bantamweight title
- James Metcalf vs Courtney Pennington
- Felix Cash vs Celso Neves
- Hopey Price vs Jonathan Santana
- Rhiannon Dixon vs Kristine Shergold
- Shannon Courtenay vs Gemma Ruegg
- Cory O’Regan vs Jordan Ellison
- Junaid Bostan vs Athanasios Glynos
- Koby McNamara vs Nabil Ahmed
Bridges vs O’Connell: What has been said?
O’Connell: “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.
“If you want something hard enough and you work hard enough to get it, you’ll get there. I don’t want people to think that I just got gifted something.
“I really have busted my ass for twenty years in this sport and I’ve done everything the hard way. I know boxing more than I know my own life. I’ve been in there 80 times. I’ve done this so many times that it’s more normal to me than living everyday life.
“I’m not about the bright lights and the fame of it.
“I feel like I am the better fighter and I’ve done the work. If that means I get called the world champion, then I deserve that.
“She knows what she’s doing getting on those scales’ half naked in her lingerie. She knows what she’s doing buying Eddie Hearn those sunglasses. She knows everything she’s doing. So for her to be acting dumb saying, ‘I’m just doing what everyone else is doing’. No she’s not – she knows what she’s about.
“I don’t know where this jealousy thing comes from. I don’t want the ‘fakeness’ of social media – I’m not about that.
“She’s said a lot of bad stuff about me. She said I’m mentally weak. She talks too much. I think she forgets what she says. She contradicts herself every time she opens her mouth. I don’t like her.
“It’ll be extremely special to win this world title. The path that I’ve created has all lead to this one moment.
“I’ve always said from the start, if I could tell my story and it changed one person’s life then it was all worth it. Well this is what will make it really worth it to them as well as me. It will show them that anything is possible.”
Boxing on talkSPORT
Head over to YouTube for more of talkSPORT’s dedicated boxing content where you will find exclusive interviews with the likes of Tyson Fury, Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul, plus our very own boxing insider.
