Fight Date Finally Set For Bridges vs. O'Connell Bantamweight Title Scrap

 

The official announcement we’ve all been waiting for arrived first thing this morning from Matchroom Boxing (late evening, Brisbane time) that on December 10 in Leeds, Ebanie Bridges will make the first defense of her IBF world bantamweight title against her mandatory challenger and Australian rival, Shannon O’Connell. Naturally, if O’Connell has any say in the matter, the Blonde Bomber’s first defense will also be her last and Christmas will come two weeks early for Team Shotgun.

The final reveal of the December 10 fight date comes after roughly two and a half months of social media swipes, bitter accusations, and fruitless negotiations, all of which necessitated intervening on the part of the IBF which issued a pair of mandates forcing a reluctant Bridges to accept the challenge from the number one ranked O’Connell rather than opt out so that she could voluntarily select her own opponent.     

Bridges seems perturbed and inconvenienced by the whole situation, insisting that she had to bypass a huge opportunity to stoop down to O’Connell’s level and get her out of the way first. The champion regards Shannon as little more than an ant at a picnic-type nuisance or common charity case, mocking O’Connell as a has-been or never-was who Ebanie claims is clamoring for the spotlight and begging for a big payday, neither of which she says Shannon would have gotten without the benefit of hitching her wagon to Bridges’ gravy train. 

She has gone so far as to refer to Shannon as “a horrible human” who slags her off in the most vicious ways possible simply to get attention. A rather curious comment to make, coming from the woman who, completely unprovoked, called O’Connell a “c**t” in a recent Twitter post.    

This increasingly nasty feud will finally come to a head at the First Direct Arena, the site of Bridges’ title-winning victory over longtime champion Maria Cecilia Roman back in March. The Bridges vs. O’Connell grudge match will be the chief support bout to Josh Warrington’s mandatory IBF featherweight title defense against Luis Alberto Lopez in the main event. 

Born in Sydney, Australia, Bridges permanently relocated to the Matchroom Boxing stronghold of Essex, England after inking a long-term promotional contract with Eddie Hearn early last year. A football fan who is an outspoken advocate for Leeds United, Bridges has subsequently amassed a rabid fanbase in the West Yorkshire city where the bout will take place, thanks to Matchroom having won the purse bid earlier this month for the right to host the event.     

O’Connell, a native of Brisbane, hoped for the all-Aussie squabble to be settled in the land Down Under, but ultimately isn’t bothered by whatever destination on the globe she has to travel to in order to finally get her hands on her nemesis, not to mention that world championship belt. 

More or less implying that O’Connell thinks small and that the outcome of the fight in her own favor is a foregone conclusion, Bridges stated that Shannon should be grateful things went the Blonde Bomber’s way with the purse bid. Ebanie contends that, due to the time difference, only the most hardcore boxing fans would have been awake for the fight had it occurred in Australia, as opposed to the massive platform Bridges boasts about putting O’Connell on courtesy of her association with Matchroom and their partnership with the popular streaming service DAZN. 

One could see their way to begrudgingly conceding that point to Bridges, except for the fact that she states it in such patronizing fashion, as if she is magnanimously doing poor, put upon Shannon a favor. After all, let’s not forget who spent $10,000 in appeal money trying to squirm her way out of this fight last month. 

The battle lines have been drawn, but regardless of who your allegiance lies with, you can’t fail to recognize that this is going to be one hell of a scrap. Not everyone is going to agree with me, and that’s fine, but I personally see Bridges/O’Connell as a very worthy successor to Taylor/Serrano, Shields/Marshall, and Mayer/Baumgardner as a watershed moment in the contemporary history of women’s boxing which will help continue to carry it from beyond the shadowy, indistinct margins of the sport up into boldfaced worldwide headlines where it belongs.

And Then There Were Two: Unified Featherweight Titleholder Amanda Serrano Takes IBF Belt From Sarah Mahfoud, Wants WBA Champ Erika Cruz Next

In a fight that turned out to be tougher than many would have thought, Amanda Serrano made her first trip across the pond and came one step closer to achieving her goal of holding every single title in the 126-pound weight class by outscoring IBF champion Sarah Mahfoud last night at Manchester Arena. 

Serrano successfully rebounded from a split decision loss to Katie Taylor in their historic headlining bout at Madison Square Garden on April 30, only the second defeat of her thirteen-year career. Not long after their first date with destiny, the Puerto Rican sensation opted out of an immediate rematch with Taylor so that she could return to the featherweight division, declaring her intention to fulfill her obligations as a titleholder and take care of some overdue house cleaning. Not until she becomes undisputed champion at 126 pounds will Serrano entertain the idea of a second bout against Taylor, who of course possesses all the belts at 135. 

Coincidentally, Mahfoud had claimed the interim version of the IBF featherweight title in February 2020 by outpointing Brenda Karen Carbajal, who was supposed to have been Serrano’s post-Taylor dance partner back in August until the MSG card was canceled due to discrepancies over Hasim Rahman Jr.’s weight for his proposed fight versus Jake Paul. 

Without having to earn the distinction in the ring, Mahfoud was arbitrarily elevated to the status of world champion by the IBF five months later, Jennifer Han having vacated the crown she had last worn into the ring two years prior. The 32-year-old Mahfoud (11-0, 3 KOs going into the Serrano bout) remained sidelined during the height of the Covid pandemic, sitting on the title for more than two years before finally defending it this past April courtesy of a narrow victory over Nina Meinke. Saturday’s unification fight likewise marked Mahfoud’s maiden voyage to Great Britain, never competing outside her native Denmark to that point.

Amanda Serrano, already in possession of the WBC, WBO, and IBO world featherweight titles, had been calling out both Mahfoud and WBA champion Erika Cruz Hernandez, who has defended against Melissa Esquivel and former belt holder Jelena Mrdjenovich, to no avail until just recently. 

Having cornered Mahfoud at long last, Amanda did what she does best which is start strong, relentlessly stalking her prey behind her punishing right jab. The heavy-handed Serrano varied her punch selection nicely, using feints to keep Mahfoud guessing whether she was going to be banging to the body as Amanda is wont to do, or unleash hard left hands whistling towards her chin.        

Despite being walked back and spending the majority of their scrap throwing counters off the back foot, Mahfoud exhibited a surprising tenacity to hang in there with the powerful southpaw, even rattling Serrano momentarily in the last minute of the bout with a well-timed right/left combination. 

Serrano unanimously swept the judges’ scorecards by two identical tallies of 97-93 and a wider 99-92 margin arrived at by Victor Loughlin, adding the IBF title to her nearly complete collection of 126-pound championship belts. 

Being taken the distance by Sarah Mahfoud keeps Serrano in a deadlock with Zulina Munoz for second place on the list of most knockouts by a female boxer with 30 apiece. Munoz (53-4-2), who takes on Kudakwashe Chiwandire on October 1 in Zimbabwe, and Serrano, who hasn’t notched a stoppage since putting Daniela Bermudez down for the count with a body shot 18 months ago, are both within two of tying Christy Martin’s long-standing record.

“I really want to say something that’s important to me. I’m dedicating this fight to all the women in Iran who are fighting for their rights and fighting for their lives,” Serrano said at Friday’s weigh-in, humbly acknowledging that there are far more vital battles being waged in the world than competitions for individual sporting records and championship belts. “I’m with you, and I’m dedicating this fight to all you beautiful women.”

Serrano and WBA world featherweight champion Erika Cruz Hernandez are now the last two women standing atop the 126-pound division. Even though Serrano cleared some space on the summit by knocking off Sarah Mahfoud, she has declared many times over that there is rarified air enough for only one belt holder. Erika, consider yourself officially warned.   

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Earlier in the evening, featherweight prospect Raven ‘The Omen’ Chapman was back in action after scoring a first-round knockout of an overmatched and underweight Gabriella Mezei at York Hall in May. 

Her three previous opponents boasting a combined record of 26-75-9, Raven gained some valuable ring experience, to go along with a secondary WBC featherweight title, by defeating former IBF super-flyweight world champion Jorgelina Guanini in her first eight-rounder. 

Chapman had the bumps and bruises to prove it, getting lumped up in the process of improving to 4-0 as a pro by the hardscrabble veteran Guanini, who seemingly touched the canvas in round two. However, Guanini was not subjected to a count by referee Victor Loughlin, who would later turn in the most generous scorecard in favor of Amanda Serrano over Sarah Mahfoud.

Speaking of Serrano, she and Chapman hit it off during the fight week festivities in Manchester and went to “go get fat together,” in Amanda’s words,following Friday’s weigh-in. Serrano complimented Raven as a “beautiful beast” with whom she would be proud “to share the ring together one day.”