Australian ‘Shotgun’ Shannon O’Connell 23-6-1 (11) has lashed out at countrywoman Ebanie Bridges 8-1 (3) ahead of their clash at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on Saturday night.
Bridges, 36, will be making the first defence of the IBF bantamweight title she won against Maria Cecilia Roman 17-7-1 at the same venue in March. It will be her fifth straight fight in the United Kingdom.
But veteran O’Connell, 39, believe the fight should be taking place in their home country.
“Other Australians have travelled and based themselves in other places,” O’Connell told Fox Sports. “Just the pure disrespect she’s had for Australian boxing. I’ve been told she was saying if we won the purse bid, she’d rather vacate than fight again in Australia.
“To me, most Aussies that leave Australia they want to come back and defend their titles or fight in front of their home fans, especially when they think they’re as global and as big as she does.
“So why wouldn’t she want to fight in front of her home crowd if she’s an Aussie?
“I don’t condemn her at all for moving away and making her career better, but she had this opportunity to fight in Australia.
“The money would have been the same for her as it would have been here because [Matchroom Boxing] won the purse bid and Eddie Hearn could have put it in Australia.
“She’s really disrespected the country.”
The sledging between the pair started earlier this year when the O’Connell took umbrage at Bridges’ penchant for wearing skimpy lingerie to her weigh-ins.
“I don’t know that I’d call her a beauty queen, more of a skanky stripper or something, I don’t know,” O’Connell told DStyleBoxing.
Bridges laughed off the comments on the Main Event Boxing Podcast, saying: “The skanky stripper thing – I’m gonna get shirts made up that say ‘skanky stripper’.
“I wonder how you’re gonna explain that you got beat by a skanky stripper that doesn’t take the sport seriously?”
O’Connell doubled down on her comments this week.
“She’s not a skanky stripper, she’s a skanky stripper wannabe,” O’Connell said to Fox Sports. “She is a skank, that’s for sure. But I’ve seen strippers look nicer than her.”
On the Main Event Boxing Podcast Bridges said that O’Connell should be thanking her for the world title opportunity and the payday that comes with it.
“I hope she says that to my face,” O’Connell said. “Because I can tell you right now that this fight is happening because my manager [Glen Jennings] and my promoter [No Limit Boxing] made this happen.
“They tried to get out of it. She should be thanking me for her biggest payday because I know what she got paid when she won the belt.
“The only reason she’s getting paid what she is is because the only way Eddie Hearn could save her arse was to win the purse bid.
“I’ll be expecting that thank you from her.”
