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It's safe to say Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is a big fan of Ebanie Bridges now.
Lillard, who has always been a huge boxing aficionado, watched Saturday's IBF bantamweight title match between Bridges and Shannon O’Connell in the Warrington-Lopez undercard in Leeds. It was Bridges' first title defense, and she certainly proved why she's the champ.
It took eight rounds for Bridges to settle the bout, but she closed it with a bang. The referee stopped the fight after the 36-year-old fighter connected a barrage of punches to the face of O'Connell.
AND STILL 👊@EbanieBridges 👑 @DAZNBoxing #BridgesOConnell #WarringtonLopez pic.twitter.com/9wJBrdLloH
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 10, 2022
Damian Lillard was definitely impressed with the Blonde Bomber's incredible display, tweeting after the fight that “Ebanie Bridges is two different ppl in and out of the ring.”
To be fair to Lillard, it's hard to argue with him over that take. While Bridges seems to be easygoing off the ring–with her weigh-in antics propelling her to an even higher level of popularity–she has shown that she's a fierce fighter on the ring. Her win against her fellow Aussie O'Connell is just the latest proof of that.
And who wouldn't love her confidence in the ring? After taking down O'Connell, Bridges even sent a rather savage message to her fallen foe.
“Not bad for a skanky stripper. I'm a world champion and I don't want easy fights,” Bridges said. “She came to fight, she was hungry, she was fierce, but I was just better and that is why I am a world champion. It was a real ‘take that, how do you like them apples moment.'
“I’m not usually disrespectful to my opponents, but she has been so disrespectful to me the whole time, so I can't give her too much respect. I hope Australia is proud of me now and they know who the queen of Australian boxing is.”
With everything that happened, Lillard will probably be watching Bridges' next fight.
