Ebanie Bridges pugile

Ebanie Bridges (born 22 September 1986) is an Australian professional boxer who has held the ANBF Australasian female super-bantamweight title since 2020. As an amateur, Bridges competed in the women's bantamweight event at the 2016 and 2017 Australasian Golden Gloves, respectively, where she won gold. She has been nicknamed the 'Blonde Bomber' due to her hair colour and her coach Arnel "Bomber" Barotillo.Bridges was born on 22 September 1986 and grew up in the Toongabbie suburb of Greater Western Sydney — the youngest child of three. She is the younger of twins by six minutes, and the only girl in her family. At the age of five, Bridges's parents introduced her to Karate — in which she competed until thirteen years of age. Shortly after, she trained in Kickboxing and Muay Thai at secondary school. She later found competitive bodybuilding — under the tutelage of Arina Manta – in which she competed for eight years and won numerous regional and state titles. She spoke of her teenage years being tough, though with her parents’ help she overcame the difficulties: ‘At 18, I decided I need to change my life.’ When growing up, Bridges admired Kostya Tszyu, Anthony Mundine, Oscar De La Hoya, and Roy Jones Jr.Bridges amassed a 26–4 amateur record from 2016 to 2018, during which she won the 2016 and 2017 National Golden Gloves titles, as well as the state championship titles at bantamweight. She also competed at the Australian Women Selection Tournament in Perth, however, she was defeated by Antonia Kay in the quarter-finals via a points-decision 4:1.On 24 November 2018, Bridges was scheduled to take on Thai fighter Rungnapha Kaewrachang in a bantamweight contest at the Wollongong Fraternity Club, however, the fight was cancelled due to Kaewrachang experiencing fighting clearance issues. Bridges instead fought Bianca Elmir in an exhibition fight, though it was not recognised as a professional bout. Bridges made her professional debut on 8 February 2019 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, on the undercard of Tim Tszyu vs. Denton Vassell against Filipino fighter Mahiecka Pareno (2–1–0), who Bridges defeated via majority decision, while having to get up from the canvas after Pareno dropped her in the first-round. During her fight with Pareno, it was later revealed that Bridges had broken her ankle but continued to carry on.