Bantamweight world champion Ebanie Bridges has to have surgery on her hand after suffering a gruesome injury during her first title defence on Saturday night.
Bridges put her IBF title on the line against bitter rival and fellow Australian Shannon O'Connell at the First Direct Arena in her new home of Leeds over the weekend. And while she managed to land a relatively comfortable stoppage victory in round eight, she didn't leave unscathed from the battle.
The boxer was visibly wearing the injury on Saturday night, keeping an ice pack close to her hand as she left the arena and did a number of interviews about the fight. And in a social media post she explained that she would be going for surgery on the injury, showing off her severely swollen hand.
"Booked in for surgery on my hand this Friday," Bridges wrote in an Instagram story. "A lot of my camp was done with only one hand. A lot of my sparring only using my left hand. But there was no way I was pulling out of this fight because I knew I could batter her with one hand if needed and I wanted to. But now time to sort this."
The feud between Bridges and O'Connell ended up getting surprisingly heated, with the pair not ending on good terms after the final bell. O'Connell flipped off the crowd and hurled insults at both her opponent and fellow Australian Skye Nicolson at ringside, and they didn't speak backstage as is customary.
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The fight started at the ferocious pace you would expect from such a rivalry, but it was Bridges who managed to get the better of the early exchanges and even land a knockdown in the third round. O'Connell survived the count and attempted to get into a big exchange, but found herself on the floor again, although the referee ruled it a slip.
Bridges unleashed another barrage in the seventh round and O'Connell was struggling immensely with a gruesome right eye injury impairing her vision. She battered away in the eight continuing the onslaught before the referee stepped in and halted the show with O'Connell unable to fight back.
Once the Australian has recovered from surgery, she will have a whole host of potential big unification clashes available in 2023. She could face fellow champion Dina Thorslund who has been pushing for the clash for several months, while a return down under under the Matchroom Boxing banner could also be on the cards.
