Ebanie Bridges: “She’s going to be shocked. I totally believe that. I think I stop her.”

Ebanie Bridges: “She’s going to be shocked. I totally believe that. I think I stop her.”

Ebanie Bridges is only 36. But already her life has been lived beyond any normal or reasonable expectations. The teenage rebel that nearly succumbed to her early vices. The mechanic, the bodybuilder, the ring girl, the maths teacher, and now a world champion in boxing. It’s some story. It will be some book.

Bridges believed in herself when others didn’t. When she exploded onto Social Media in 2020, Bridges was a novice in her new world, but even then she was making big bold claims about being a world champion. And more. Much more.

The switch from her successful bodybuilding career to a life in boxing was typical of the way the Australian works:

“I got to the point where I had nothing more to prove and I wanted to do something different. So I thought what do I like, and I liked punching the crap out of people.” Bridges told me in our very first interview back in 2020.

I have always said, there is something about Bridges that makes you believe. I can remember thinking just a few minutes into that first interview, that she had something. It just didn’t sound like some fake noise from a deluded wannabe. Even as a fledgeling pro, 4-0, at the time, and only three years into the sport, you just knew she would get there.

“If I am going for a world title I am going there to win it,” Bridges told me back then. The odds when she did get that first opportunity against Shannon Courtenay were highly unflattering. But despite losing on points to Courtenay, she still proved a lot of people wrong, and in many ways, still came out the winner. And when she got another opportunity in March against the long-reigning IBF bantamweight champion Maria Cecilia Roman, she didn’t waste it. And now the next chapter begins.

Bridges left her native country, her love and her life left behind as she looked to write the next chapter in her quite incredible life:

“I don’t think my life has changed too much just because I have won a world title. The fight got me some new fans and it showed that I am legit. But the reality is if I want to stay at my best and keep improving then I have to be over in the UK training and not keep country hopping. So obviously I have changed my whole life and moved countries.” An excited Bridges told me a few weeks shy from her latest outing in the sport that has given her so much.

The immediate aftermath in Leeds was Bridges letting off certain frustrations. “Firstly, can I just say, can I fucking fight or what? Fuck you guys who think I can’t fight, because I can fucking fight.” A post-fight speech to remember, hoping those that doubted didn’t forget her words.

There were accusations that she was only at the table because of her looks and the views that she brings to the party. A novelty act, that would soon be found out. But Bridges silenced most of those that doubted her, but her success came as no surprise to her:

“I don’t train to prove people wrong or do what I do to prove people wrong. I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. I already know what I am capable of and what my destiny is.”

It was a fight where Bridges came blasting out of the blocks, and the early concern from ringside was that she had started way too fast and would pay a heavy price for that early excitement. But Bridges knew what she was doing, it was all part of the plan. And it worked. That early work put rounds in the bank, and while Roman found some success in the closing rounds it was a fight that Bridges won beyond doubt. And impressively so. For Bridges, it was her kind of fight she told me:

“I dominated the fight. People can say that Roman didn’t throw enough punches or was just trying to tire me out but the fact is if you get punched a thousand times it is very hard to hit back. It will be the same with O’Connell, I will do the same to her. When you are getting constantly punched in the face it’s very hard to let your hands go, you get flustered. It got to the halfway point of the fight and she thought I’ve got to let my hands go. I think winning in that kind of fashion against a veteran pro, the longest-reigning champion in my division showed what I am all about.

“Everybody said she should have done this or that. But that was the point. I made her not to be able to do all that. I made it very hard for her to throw punches. Sometimes your best defence is your offence. If people want to make excuses they will. They said I just beat a body bag, but if she was, I turned her into one. It was good to win like that. That type of fight is my bread and butter. I was just naturally flowing, I could have done another five rounds. If you fight your natural fight it’s not that exhausting.”

Some of the keyboard warriors will never be satisfied, but sometimes you have to give credit where it’s due. What Roman didn’t do or should have done was a convenient excuse to some, but they could look at what Bridges did do. She fought the perfect fight, sometimes it’s that simple.

On December 10th, again in her adopted city, Bridges will make the first defence of her IBF title against her fellow Australian Shannon O’Connell. If the build-up with Roman was friendly and respectful, the one with O’Connell is anything but. A different Shannon, but the same kind of talk and feel that led us into that first-world title opportunity back in 2021.

A recent Zoom promotional video call with her opponent highlighted the differences between the two fighters. Same country. Same sport. But different views on how they go about their work inside and outside of the ring. There is still some resentment towards Bridges. She had her plan to get noticed and seen, it took a lot of time and plenty of self-promoting, something which some fighters still don’t do. In an age of Social Media and the opportunity to get free advertising and millions of potential customers for your own personal brand, there are fighters still conspicuous by their lack of activity on Social Media platforms. Some get it, some don’t, Bridges got it and is now reaping the rewards. In boxing you have to be seen and heard to get noticed, Bridges understood that nothing comes to you, you have to go out and get it.

But Bridges still had to prove she can actually fight, a point many miss, she is still at the Matchroom table because she has done that. Bridges has sacrificed everything for her craft. The fight with O’Connell you sense is the perfect way to send one final message to any lingering doubters that remain, and more so, to O’Connell herself:

“I don’t really have anything too personal against her. But she has openly said she doesn’t like me even though she has never met me. I just can’t wait for her underestimation of me. It will shock her. If anything I am just laughing about how much she is underestimating me. It makes me think she doesn’t know boxing. Saying I don’t take this sport seriously or respect the sport. What I have done has worked for me, she should be thanking me, she is making the biggest payday of her life. It’s like everyone else should be thanking me for all I have done. She’ll find out what I am all about in Leeds.

“She’s going to be shocked. I totally believe that. I think I stop her. She has never fought anywhere like the Leeds Arena with fans like I have. She hasn’t fought anyone with my power. I think it will be a good fight but I do think her underestimation of me will be a big factor. They can’t look past the looks and all the banter.”

The move to reside permanently in the UK gives Bridges the opportunity to settle down and build on her working relationship with her trainer Mark Tibbs. The improvements were obvious back in March, and Bridges believes we will see a lot more on December 10th:

“I’m a novice really who just keeps improving and getting better. She will see my improvements. Everyone will see my improvements. I’m not globetrotting anymore and having interruptions in my camp.”

Bridges will already have planned for a life outside of boxing, even with time left in the sport, she will know where her post-boxing life takes her. Even now. But winning a world title isn’t enough for her, she talks about unifying in her division, and wanting to go undisputed before her time is up she told me:

“I’ll never be satisfied, but I have to be realistic, in the time I have got I think being undisputed is a realistic goal. I don’t have another ten years left where I can be undisputed in many different weight classes. Once I become undisputed, I’ll set different goals but in different avenues.”

For her, it’s been a frustrating time since March waiting for another fight date. But it has finally arrived, and while local hero Josh Warrington headlines, it is likely that two Australians will steal the show. It’s the sort of fight that can’t fail to excite. The two clearly don’t like each other, and with fighting styles that will please the Leeds faithful, nobody will leave disappointed. If the judges are needed to add up their scores, I will be surprised.