Ebanie Bridges and Ebonie Cotton ditch lingerie for combat as glam boxers conflict
Boxing beauty Ebanie Bridges was almost upstaged by her glam rival Ebonie Cotton at the weigh-in for their fight, but it was a different story when they squared off in the ring
Ebanie Bridges defeated Ebonie Cotton to get back to winning ways
Ebanie Bridges got back to winning ways as she beat Ebonie Cotton in an entertaining fight on Saturday night.
The two boxers had left fans’ jaws on the floor with their weigh-in attire on Friday. Australian fan favourite Bridges wowed in her trademark lingerie, while her glam rival Cotton disposed with clothing entirely and opted for just tape and bodypaint. Even Bridges looked surprised to see quite so much of her opponent when they hit the scales and faced off ahead of the bout.
But there was perhaps little chance of the Blonde Bomber being upstaged when it came to the fight itself and so it proved on the VIP Boxing Promotions card at Rainton Arena in Sunderland, as she recorded a unanimous victory on points to end any talk of a losing streak, despite West Midlanders star Cotton doing herself proud in defeat.
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Former IBF Women’s Bantamweight Champion Bridges is still working her way back to the top, after taking nearly two years out of the ring and having a baby boy with British boxing legend Kell Brook.
Having signed with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, the 39-year-old lost to Alexis Arazia Mones in her comeback fight in Puerto Rico on January 3 and later admitted the clash was probably too much too soon after giving birth.
Yet Bridges shook off any remaining ring rust against a game 31-year-old Cotton, a former dancer and model, who came out fast at the start of the fight.
Bridges’ gloves absorbed many of Cotton’s punches and she took over as the first round progressed, causing her opponent problems with her backhand.
It was a similar story in the second round. And by the third Bridges had started landing bigger shots and was showing her quality, connecting hard and often with her right hand.
Cotton showed great resilience against the former world champion, and more than held her own in the fourth and fifth rounds, impressing with her determination and volume of shots.
However, Bridges was more accurate with her punches, including some mean right hooks.
Going into the sixth and final round, it was still all up for grabs, but Cotton wasn’t able to do enough to convince the judges, who all scored it 59-56 points in favour of Bridges.
The adopted Yorkshirewoman – wearing the blue and yellow of her beloved Leeds United – celebrated her victory with Brook and son Ezerra, plus new trainer Dominic Ingle in the ring.
And it capped off a fine week for Bridges, who had predicted a hat-trick of victories after seeing Leeds beat Manchester United and Wolves to end any talk of relegation from the Premier League.
