Advertisement

'Complete joke': Boxing fans rage after Ebanie Bridge's 'unreal' fight

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·5-min read
Ebanie Bridges (pictured) during her bout with Mahiecka Pareno at the Star of the Ring III Charity Fight Night. (Getty Images)
Ebanie Bridges (pictured) during her bout with Mahiecka Pareno at the Star of the Ring III Charity Fight Night. (Getty Images)

Ebanie Bridges was all the talk heading into her WBA world female bantamweight title bout against British boxer Shannon Courtenay and the pair delivered an absolute war.

Bridges, known as the Blonde Bomber, and her opponent had created huge hype around her title bout after Courtenay had accused her Aussie opponent of "degrading" the sport.

'IT'S GONE': Shock moment MMA fighter loses finger during bout

'HEART OF A CHAMP': German boxer overcomes grotesque head injury

Bridges has amassed a huge social media following and regularly posts racy photos for her fans.

She even rocked up to the weigh-in sporting her lingerie and offered her opponent a pair of her father's undies.

But despite the build-up, Bridges fought gallantly till the end in an absolute war, before going down 98-92 after 10 rounds.

Bridges was battered and bruised in the fight and even finished with a nasty haematoma injury above her right eye after a strong blow from Courtenay.

The Blonde Bomber threatened to cause an upset in the 7th round after a series of strong punches had Courtenay on the back foot.

But the British boxer steadied herself and won the vacant title after a strong display.

Fans fume over judges scorecards for Ebanie Bridges

Despite fans having Courtenay the winner, many were in shock at just how wide the scores were on the cards.

Fans took to social media to congratulate the pair, but also call out the judges for an 'embarrassing' score.

Regardless of the result, Bridges and Courtenay shared a special moment after the fight.

Bridges also took to social media to congratulate her opponent and said she fought her heart out, despite not being able to see out of her eye.

"What can I say, I didn’t get the W, but I fought my heart out, I couldn't see for the last 3 rounds, but I have no quit in me!" she wrote.

Bridges accused of 'degrading the sport'

In the lead up to the bout, the Blonde Bomber's opponent took a dig at Bridges and clearly didn't agree with her antics.

“I’m a fighter, not a lingerie model,” Courtenay said on Wednesday.

“This is a world title fight. Have some respect for the game.

"You’ve got people like Katie Taylor who has worked her arse off for years to allow women like me to be in this position - through hard work and dedication she’s managed to get women’s boxing where it is - and you want to disrespect it and degrade the sport by talking about your weigh-in outfit and lingerie?

"Have some respect and some decorum for boxing.”

But all of the animosity seemed to be buried as fans called for a rematch after the wild 10 rounds.

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.