Shannon O’Connell “Ebanie Bridges Talks Too Much, I Don’t Like Her”
O’Connell Aims to Make Bridges Quit
Shannon O’Connell says she will make Ebanie Bridges quit when the bitter Aussie rivals clash for the IBF Bantamweight World Title at the First Direct Arena in Leeds this Saturday, December 10, shown live worldwide on DAZN.
Ebanie Bridges Accused of Taking Things Personally
The pair have been embroiled in a fierce war of words since their World Title showdown was officially confirmed in September. However, 39-year-old O’Connell, from Slacks Creek in Queensland, has accused ‘The Blonde Bomber’ of “taking things beyond boxing by getting personal.”
O’Connell Criticizes Bridges’ Weigh-In Conduct
Bridges (8-1, 3 KOs) and O’Connell (23-6-1, 11 KOs) will go head-to-head in what’s being hailed as the biggest fight in the history of Australian women’s boxing. The highly anticipated bout will take place on the undercard of the Josh Warrington vs. Luis Alberto Lopez fight, and there is no love lost between the two, especially after ‘Shotgun’ O’Connell criticized Bridges for wearing lingerie at weigh-ins.
“The rivalry probably came from me not liking the way Ebanie conducts herself,” said O’Connell. “I’ve got a 15-year-old daughter, and if I was doing the things Ebanie is doing, it would basically be telling my daughter, ‘Get your clothes off, and you can get what you want in life.’ That’s not what I’m about. Whether you’re a guy or girl, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done – you should work hard for what you want.”
“If you want something badly enough and work hard enough to get it, you’ll get there. I don’t want people to think that I was just gifted something. I’ve really busted my ass for twenty years in this sport, and I’ve done everything the hard way. I know boxing better than I know my own life. I’ve been in the ring 80 times. It’s more normal to me than everyday life.”
“I’m not about the bright lights and the fame. 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 when she steps on those scales half-naked in lingerie.
She knows what she’s doing when she buys Eddie Hearn those sunglasses. She knows everything she’s doing. So for her to act dumb and say, ‘I’m just doing what everyone else is doing.’ No, she’s not – she knows exactly what she’s about.”
O’Connell Dismisses Social Media “Fakeness” and Bridges’ Antics
“I don’t know where this jealousy thing comes from. I don’t want the ‘fakeness’ of social media – that’s not me. She’s said a lot of bad stuff about me. She even said I’m mentally weak. She talks too much. I think she forgets what she says and 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 led 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.
Winning this title will make it all truly worth it – for them as much as for me. It will show them that anything is possible.”