Ebanie Bridges vs. Avril Mathie: A Street Fight in San Francisco

Ebanie Bridges vs. Avril Mathie: A Street Fight in San Francisco

On December 8th, Ebanie Bridges will end her year-long boxing hiatus in San Francisco. The IBF bantamweight champion will make the second defence of her world title when she takes on her fellow Australian Avril Mathie.

Bridges (9-1) hasn’t fought since settling her differences with another Australian Shannon O’Connell in Leeds last December. Despite still suffering from a troublesome right hand, Bridges was inspired and beyond spiteful and stopped O’Connell in eight brutal rounds. Bridges overcame a slight wobble in the opening round to bludgeon her Australian rival to a one-sided defeat.

The injured right hand, which had been an issue since her fight with Mailys Gangloff in September 2021, was finally put under the knife earlier this year, and Bridges is keen to test the hand on Mathie.

“If Avril thinks because it’s December and it’s the beginning of the holiday season, she’ll be going home with an early Christmas present she is sadly mistaken,” said Bridges. “After the fight and my hand is raised in victory it’s going to look like she’s celebrating Halloween. I intend to put on a show for the fans live in San Francisco, on DAZN, and all over the world.”

Mathie (8-1-1) hasn’t fought since losing her unbeaten record to Ramla Ali in February, in a fight that was a whole lot closer than the three judges scored it. Mathie didn’t win, but she deserved a little more credit for her effort than what the judges gave her. Despite entering her maiden world title opportunity coming off a loss, Mathie isn’t short of confidence and is promising that the fight will deliver for the fans.

“I am beyond excited to be challenging for the IBF bantamweight title on December 9, and on such a big card in front of what looks like will be a sold-out arena in San Francisco. I am confident people will be seeing the best version of me to date. Everything leading up to this fight has prepared me both mentally and physically to leave San Francisco with that championship belt. I am expecting the best version of Ebanie that night as well, which I know is going to make this fight an absolute banger and be a huge win for women’s boxing overall.”

Skybet Odds:

Ebanie Bridges is a strong betting favourite with Skybet. They have the champion at 1/12 to retain her IBF bauble. If you fancy the upset, Mathie is 9-2 to leave San Francisco a world champion. The draw is valued at 20-1.

Bridges is never in a boring fight, and despite the long odds, her fight with Mathie will likely be in a similar vein to her fights with Shannon Courtenay and Shannon O’Connell. Mathie will come to fight and to win. Bridges will oblige her in the trenches.

The reigning IBF bantamweight champion doesn’t get the credit she deserves, and if, as the odds suggest, she turns back the challenge of her fellow Australian, then Bridges will undoubtedly target big unification fights in 2024 against the likes of Dina Thorslund and Nina Hughes.