Ebanie Bridges, an Australian boxer, suffered debilitating facial injuries during a merciless 10-round war with Shannon Courtenay last night.Nicknamed the ‘Blonde Bomber’, Bridges lost her first professional bout despite an impressive start to the proceedings.It took just one perfectly savage blow from Courtenay to leave Bridges with a horror-movie calibre haematoma in her right eye.By round eight, Bridge’s eye had swollen beyond anyone’s expectations for such an injury, nearing a state of being completely closed over. Despite confessing to fighting blind in her injured eye, a controversial ruling allowed the bloody contest to continue.Showing incredible bravery in the face of debilitating pain, Bridges absorbed a series of head shots without ever falling to the mat in the final rounds.Widely praised for her guts and skyscraper-high pain threshold, Bridges ultimately lost the bout by unanimous decision (97-94, 98-92).

The fight received a good deal of promotion and interest in the lead-up to its appearance on the undercard of the Conor Benn vs. Samuel Vargas match-up.

Matchroom Boxing kingpin Eddie Hearn commended Bridges’ performance:

“Great advert for women's boxing because we know it's had a massive build-up - probably the biggest build-up I've been involved with in a female fight - but if it doesn't deliver, it's no good for anyone.”
'It was brilliant from start to finish,” he continued.

The severity of Bridges’ injury has left many questioning if the incredible bout should’ve been stopped early.

Unfazed by the physical trauma she endured last night, she has already begun preparations for her next fight. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that one.