Ebani Bridges fired back at her future opponent, Shannon O’Connell, on the sled.
The pair will go head-to-head in the biggest fight in Australian women’s boxing history on the undercard of the Josh Warrington-Luis Alberto Lopez fight in Leeds on Sunday AEDT.
Bridges (8-1, 3 KOs) and O’Connell (23-6-1, 11 KOs) have been fighting for the IBF bantamweight title for a long time, and after O’Connell criticized what love was lost. Bridges to wear underwear in Libra.
“I don’t know, I don’t know if I’d call her a beauty queen or more of a sleazy stripper or something,” O’Connell said earlier this year.
Asked if O’Connell’s pre-fight digs got under his skin, Bridges said that particular comment lit a fire in his belly.
“The skanky stripper thing – I make shirts that say ‘skanky stripper,'” Bridges said.
“I wonder how you’re going to explain being beaten by a skinny stripper who doesn’t take sports seriously?”
Bridges, 36, is used to comments like this about her underwear, but has learned to shrug off the “haters.”
“What they’re seeing now is ‘Wow, he’s on this international stage,'” he said on the Main Event Boxing with Ben Damon podcast.
“She has great breasts and she looks great on the scale, so that’s probably why.”
“It’s funny. It actually is, and it’s very close-minded.
“No matter what, look at (Floyd) Mayweather, he’s incredible, there’s still a lot of haters.
“Everyone has haters. There are people who hate Canelo (Alvarez). Clarissa Shields has her haters. Some people just hate it.
“Real people, people who understand boxing, who know boxing, who don’t have a personal vendetta … they can see the truth of me, see what I’ve done and see who I am, and that’s all that matters. .
“I don’t bother too much about people who hate and can’t see it. I’m not here to prove anybody wrong, I’m just here to try and do my best.”
Bridges doesn’t know why O’Connell is feuding with him, but believes a KO win would help silence his critics.
“I never did anything against Shannon,” he said.
“Like a lot of people, he’s a bit close-minded and thinks I don’t take sports seriously because I wear underwear.
“I have nothing against Shannon, why are you hating?
“I respect him. He is a great boxer, a pioneer in Australian boxing. He did it all. Hats off to him.
“When I beat Shannon, if I beat him, it would be a great statement for all the people who are against the blonde bombshell, especially in Australia.
“But I’m going to go out there and win and I’m sure I’m going to shut down a few people.”
“He sounds a bit bitter when he talks, but I can only be a little bit,” added the former Sydney maths teacher, now in the UK.
“Shannon saw me in my first amateur fight. I did what I did in three years.
“I’m going to get him the biggest payday, which is putting all of his paychecks in one fight, and I’ve done that in a couple of years. It’s for me, because of what I’ve built, how hard I’ve worked and the brand I have.”
Bridges says it’s unbelievable if he’s reached the top of world boxing through anything other than hard work.
“Thinking I’m just a jerk because I have a huge following on social media and I’m great at promoting myself means I shouldn’t be working hard in the gym. box or I won’t take it seriously,” he said.
“These are just close-minded, short-sighted opinions and judgments.
“You don’t become a world champion just by weighing in your underwear, I’ll tell you that right now.
“There are a lot of women out there with beautiful bodies. It’s not just that. It makes me a little sad, but I will continue to prove them wrong.
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