EXCLUSIVE Ebanie Bridges made her boxing return earlier this year – and she’s opened up to Daily Star Sport about the process and the set backs
Ebanie Bridges made her return earlier this year(Image: Getty Images)
Ebanie Bridges’ boxing return had been a long time coming when she walked through the crowd and made her way to the ring in Puerto Rico last month.
Back in December 2023, Bridges, 39, had lost the IBF female bantamweight title in a bout with Miyo Yoshida. And when she left the ring that evening, Bridges might not have imagined her next bout would take place in 2026.
Instead, boxing would take a backseat for the Blonde Bomber as she started a family with British boxing icon Kell Brook. “It was a long time coming,” she told Daily Star Sport with a smirk.
Ebanie Bridges admitted it was a tough return to the ring
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Bridges was in Manchester at an open workout ahead of Brook’s comeback bout with Eisa Al Dah in Dubai. However, she took some time to reflect on her own return against Alexis Araiza Mones.
Mones had got the better of the Australian native, and she admitted it might have been too soon: “Maybe I wasn’t ready physically with the body.
“I’d only just started strength and conditioning like five weeks before the fight because I was like ‘I think I need to do a bit of weights and get my core back up’ because the C-section and birth probably physically did something to me…”
Ebanie Bridges lost in her return to the ring(Image: Getty Images)
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It was her fighting spirit that had pushed Bridges to return, she had set a goal and intended to follow it through.
The Blonde Bomber continued: “I said I was going to do a fight within 12 months of giving birth and I have to tick that box!
“And have to do what I said I was going to do because I always do what I’m going to say I’m going to do… I love fighting. Love it all, the whole fight week stuff: the press, the press conference, the weigh-ins.
Ebanie Bridges opened up on the challenges of her return
“Fight night was good. Obviously, the fight didn’t go my way, which I don’t love. It was very disappointing.”
Bridges explained she felt like quitting throughout return as it was “just too hard”. There were sleepless nights, returning home from training and “not being able to rest because then you’ve got to feed and play and do everything.”
Bridges was now a mum, she smiled and thanked the people that helped her throughout the process: “It really does take a village to raise a child, especially for someone like me that doesn’t have family here!
“It is getting easier. He is a bit older now, just getting a little bit easier. Until he starts running and then I’ll be like, ‘Don’t run. Just stay still’.”
She added: “It was all very hard. It was all very intense. And then obviously looking after the household and stuff as well.
“I’m literally used to just looking after myself. Cooking for myself, cleaning myself, going to bed, resting, sleeping whenever I want, training whenever I want.
“Everything’s really comfortable. It got me right out of my comfort zone. You’ve got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, they say, and I know that a lot.”
“I thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I don’t need to do it. I’ve got money. I’m happy. I’ve succeeded in so many things in my life. I’ve ticked every box you can tick in life. ‘Why am I doing this?’
“I could just chill with my son and enjoy life. But that’s not who I am. I like a challenge and I like to be working towards something. I can’t just settle and be complacent. I’m a woman of my word and when I say I’m going to do something, I do it.
“I’ve learned over my years of success that you never achieve anything by quitting when it gets tough. When it gets tough, that’s when you push.
“Obviously, a win would have made it all much more worthwhile. I was quite down after my fight. I cried a lot.
“I kept thinking about all the sacrifices and all the time spent away dieting, not enjoying my son as much because I’m tired. If I’d won, it would have felt more worthwhile.”
The fire is still burning bright for the Blonde Bomber and she’s already got itchy knuckles – desperate to get back into the ring again.
“But I don’t fight to get a participation award. I fight to win. If I don’t succeed, it just makes me think I have to keep going until I succeed.
“So I’m back out again soon.”