Ebanie ‘Blonde Bomber’ Bridges reveals how meeting Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton inspired her to victory

Australian boxing champion Ebaine Bridges has revealed some ‘words of wisdom’ from Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton inspired her to beat Shannon O’Connell in their recent IBF bantamweight title bout in Leeds.

Sydney-born Bridges, 36, tweeted an image of herself in a huddle with the famed British fighter at the First Direct Arena on December 10.

‘Such a special moment for me having @Hitman Hatton come see me before my fight and give me his words of wisdom….and tell me his belief in me,’ the accompanying post read.

‘He is an absolute legend and I’m glad I could make him proud.’

Bridges beat fierce rival and fellow Aussie O’Connell following a fierce pre-bout war of words, with the superior stamina and more accurate punches of the ‘Blonde Bomber’ seeing the fight stopped by referee Howard Foster in round eight.

Hatton is regarded as one of England’s finest boxers and was the unified light-welterweight world champion in 2005

Bridges has only lost once in 10 career bouts, and continues to impress good judges of the sport

‘Not bad for a skanky stripper I must say, not bad for a skanky stripper,’ a jubilant Bridges said afterwards, referencing some of O’Connell’s trash talking before the pair stepped into the ring.

‘I’m not usually disrespectful to my opponent but she was so disrespectful to me the whole time.  

‘I can’t really give her that much respect – she can hit but. She can bang. ‘She came, she was hungry, she was fierce. 

‘But I was better, and that’s why I’m the champion. ‘I knew it was going to be the hardest fight of my career, and it was.

‘Now we know who the real Queen of Australian boxing is. ‘Team skanky stripper forever!’

The 35-year-old defended her IBF bantamweight title with a knockout victory on December 10

Ebanie Bridges has since revealed she broke her hand before her fight with Shannon O’Connell

Bridges took to Twitter days after her impressive win in Leeds to show off her broken hand

O’Connell also labelled the champ a ‘fat c****’ ahead of the fight in the UK, adding to the tension.

Remarkably, Bridges later revealed her broken hand, which she injured pre-bout.

‘A lot of my (fight) camp was done with one hand,’ she tweeted.

‘Most of my sparring only using my left hand. But there was no way I was pulling out of that fight cos I knew I could batter her (O’Connell) with one hand if needed.

‘But now time to sort this. ‘It’s a pretty intense surgery, they take bone from my hip and fuse my joints together. Bit of a lengthy recovery…but I am no stranger to injuries.’