Ebanie Bridges has declared herself the queen of Australian boxing after she followed up her war of words with compatriot Shannon O'Connell by retaining the IBF bantamweight world title with an eighth-round stoppage win in Leeds, England.
Making her first defence of the title she won at the same venue back in March, Bridges was wobbled in the first round but dictated terms for most of the entertaining scrap on Saturday night (Sunday morning AEDT).
She floored O'Connell with a right hand in the third and English referee Howard Foster stopped the bout after the tiring challenger took a series of punches halfway through the eighth round.