Ebanie Bridges doesn’t “give a f–k” what anybody thinks about her. That attitude has gotten her pretty far.
The boxing champion’s unapologetic mindset, along with her weigh-in lingerie attire, are identifiers of the “Blonde Bomber” — a ring name and personal brand built behind a combination of beauty, banter and boxing.
To those that believe Bridges can’t step on the scale in a bra top and G-string thong, the IBF bantamweight champion says: “Look at my f–king belt. F–k you guys. I can do both [be sexy and fight]. Simple.”
The 36-year-old Bridges told The Post “it’s just the beginning” of her bringing sexiness to the ring — and that there are plenty more female fighters coming behind her.
“I’ve just proven it. I’ve just literally got a f–king world title belt, and what I said after my fight was ‘f–k you guys,” Bridges said of her unanimous decision victory over Argentina’s Maria Cecilia Roman in Leeds in March to bring home the IBF women’s bantamweight title.
“You think I can’t fight, because I can f–king fight. I just beat the longest reigning world champion in my division and I look f–king hot on the scales doing it.”
At the time, Bridges took the scale in a green and white lace lingerie set with a pair of silver hoop earrings at the weigh-in. Bridges grew comfortable with skimpy attire in her ten years as a bodybuilder. As she was doing that, she was also a ring girl.
“So to people that say you can’t do it, I just f–king did it,” Bridges said. “Welcome to the new world. Welcome to ‘the Blonde Bomber effect’ because there’s going to be plenty more of them, because I see it — all the girls coming out, putting in the effort, putting the lingerie on and making themselves more pretty, not playing it down, not being rough because f–k it, why not?”
Ebanie Bridges (left) during her win over Maria Cecilia Roman PA Images via Getty Images
Ebanie Bridges during a weigh-inPA Images via Getty ImagesThe Sydney native left Australia last month and moved to Essex, a county in southeast England, where she now trains full time with her coach Mark Tibbs. She turned pro just three years ago.
Bridges — who has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Western Sydney University and a Master’s degree in teaching — previously taught secondary school [middle to his school level]. She left behind her entire life in Australia, which included her students, family and a longtime relationship, to try and reach the top of her sport.
She called the decision to split with her boyfriend a “mutual decision” that was “heartbreaking.”
“I was just sick of having to travel back to Australia,” said Bridges, who signed with Matchroom last year. “Every time I went back to Australia, it was just blowing my momentum because it would be a fight and I’d have to go back. I had a partner in Australia that I had been with for ten years and I had to split with him to move over here, which was quite a big sacrifice.”
Ebanie Bridges before a March 2022 fight.PA Images via Getty ImagesBridges caught the boxing bug in that time as a ring girl during her early 20s. She would train in between jobs, and also practiced martial arts, including karate, which she has a black belt in. She earned the nickname “Blonde Bomber” at the gym and “it just stuck” throughout her fight career. The name is also a play on her amateur coach’s name.
Bridges won 26 of her 30 fights at the amateur level before she turned pro in 2019. She made her professional debut that February at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney against Filipino fighter Mahiecka Pareno and won via majority decision.
It has not been an easy road to a title, though. She has shelled out thousands of dollars — “an easy 60, 70k,” she said — to build her brand and maintain her fight career.
Mailys Gangloff (left) and Ebanie Bridges during their Sept. 4, 2021 fight.PA Images via Getty Images“So my first four fights, I had to pay like four-and-a-half grand just to get the f–king fight. I didn’t have promoters paying for my opponent,” Bridges said. “I didn’t have promoters paying for my opponents coming from overseas, their flights.. their accommodation, their food allowances, their visas…
“I don’t have anyone doing that because in Australia, women’s boxing wasn’t that big when I started out three years ago. No one gave a f–k about women’s boxing until recently.”
Bridges said she once paid “four grand in [Las] Vegas” to attend and watch fights in order to get her name out in the fight scene.
“You know, that’s investment. I did that because I needed to get seen, I needed to get known, because you don’t get f–king known in Australia,” she said. “How many female boxers do you know in Australia?”
Outside the ring, Bridges is not a fan of socializing. In order to build her brand on social media — where she boasts 514,000 Instagram followers and another 149,000 on Twitter — she is “constantly entertaining people and constantly f–king talking to people.” So when she can, Bridges prefers working on her art.
“I am shut down. I’m like, ‘Don’t talk to me. Let me sleep and draw. Shut up,'” Bridges said.
The IBF recently mandated a bantamweight title fight between Bridges and “Shotgun” Shannon O‘Connell, a 39-year-old Aussie veteran, setting a deadline of Sept. 26 this year for the match to take place.
Ebanie Bridges (left) and Mailys Gangloff during their weigh-in.PA Images via Getty Images
Ebanie Bridges on Aug. 6, 2021.Getty ImagesO‘Connell (23-6-1, 11 KOs) is coming off eight consecutive wins, including four knockouts. Her most recent victory came in June, via TKO, over fellow Aussie Sarah Higginson in Brisbane.
“I just want to be the best,” Bridges said. “I want to win. I want to be a champion. I’ll continue to be a champion. I set a goal and I will do what it takes to achieve that goal.”
And if you question her? You know how she’ll respond.
