On Saturday night, Watford’s Shannon Courtenay and Australian Ebanie Bridges battled it out for the WBA Bantamweight world title. 

The bout was widely criticised, as many boxing fans thought it far from warranted a world title belt, with both women being respective ‘babies’ to the professional ranks. 

27-year-old Courtenay had seven pro fights prior with one loss, and not a lot of amateur experience beforehand. 34-year-old Bridges had an unbeaten pro record going into the ring, but only had five fights against (with all due respect) well, nobodies. 

So why was it a world title contender fight? Courtenay was eighth in the WBA’s official rankings and Bridges was just below her. Neither were thought to be deserving of the chance. 

Simply put – Ebanie Bridges can sell herself. Literally.

She has stirred up controversy and a large social media following as she has always turns up to weigh-ins in lacy, lavish lingerie and essentially puts on a modelling show.

She constantly refers to her (fake) breasts and even joked that they alone were heavier than Courtenay was before the fight. 

To be honest, she’s everything I usually hate, in that she panders to the male gaze and men’s lustrous expectations of women. 

From my perspective, she is taking complete focus away from the athleticism, determination and 100% effort it takes to be a professional fighter. 

She continuously called Courtenay out online, referring to the latter also wearing underwear to weigh-ins and in one interview called her “kind of pretty”. 

I just need to point out here – practically all boxers wear underwear to weigh-ins. You’re trying to make weight at all costs and even clothes weigh something. I can’t imagine Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier goading over who’s in boxers and who’s in briefs, so why should it be different for females?

Is Being A Girly Girl Such A Bad Thing?

Courtenay herself has an interesting back story. In 2015, she was overweight, working in a pub, drinking, partying and smoking up to 40 cigarettes a day. She decided to go to a boxing gym to try and lose weight and the rest is history. 

The ‘Baby Face Assassin’ is herself blonde and fond of fashion, make-up and selfies, as her Instagram suggests. 

Being an archetypal ‘girly girl’ isn’t a crime, but should it be what defines you?

Courtenay certainly argues that it shouldn’t and has spoken out numerous times about how she believes that isn’t how to be “a role model”.

“I have a 14-year-old sister,” said the former chef. “I want to be a role model for these young women to show them you can do anything. You can be anyone.

“Let’s talk about how hard work and dedication can get you somewhere. That’s what I want to talk about.”

Before the fight, she told Sky Sports “I don’t want to discuss the underwear. If that’s her thing, that’s fine. You focus on that, but don’t try and drag me into it.”

When I myself was a little girl, I loved Barbie, Britney Spears and basically all the blondes.

All of these factors probably contributed to me wanting to dye my hair peroxide (which I did) and generally wanting to look or act in a certain, stereotypically ‘girly’ way. 

I’m not saying any of these women are bad people or bad role models, but I do, to an extent hold them and the media’s portrayal of them, accountable for some of the body image issues I had growing up.

Fast forward to now. I’m 26 years old, an amateur boxer and a sports journalist. My idols changed, as did my priorities. I still have blonde hair, but I focus a lot more on being strong, not skinny – the overused cliché but one that is very true when you’re training as a boxer. 

I realised in my early twenties that fad diets and obsessing over the scales was never going to work and instead turned my head to the gym and sport – mainly boxing. It’s also what piqued my interest in sports journalism. 

But my own childhood and the position I’m in now are what makes me so passionate about this debate.

Bridges told The Ring Magazine, “Why should I play it down? Why should anyone play it down? Why can’t I weigh in in lingerie and do all of these sexy things when it’s sports? Why can’t I? Why can’t I be feminine and be a beauty and a beast? Why? That’s the message I push.”

She has spoken out before on how she feels her femininity has hindered her in the sport, but if this were true then the former bodybuilder of seven years wouldn’t even have had a look in for this fight. 

There are of course historic male legends in boxing too that rose to prominence alongside an attractive appearance. 

Floyd ‘Pretty Boy’ Mayweather is the first that comes to mind, although that moniker soon turned to ‘Money Mayweather’ and I think it’s fair to say not a lot of pressure is put on his looks when he may literally be the best boxer in history. 

There is of course also the modern Adonis, Anthony Joshua and the young, flashy Ryan Garcia, who at only 22 years old boasts an 8.6 million Instagram following and boyish good looks that would rival Zac Efron in High School Musical. 

Again – their handsome airs come secondary to the fact that they are world class pugilists.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

It must be said, although Courtenay and Bridges’ fight was messy and slipshod, they both impressed this writer with their resilience and sheer stubbornness to not give up. 

I was mostly surprised by Bridges, who went all 10 two-minute rounds despite being wobbled twice, giving her English opponent as good as she got for most of the fight.

Bridges even persevered when she couldn’t see out of a humongously swollen left eye throughout nearly the entire second half of the bout – then making a joke on her Instagram later that she “won’t be modelling for a while”. 

It’s this grit, passion and motivation that should have been used to promote the fight from the outset!

My point is – young girls already have enough impossible beauty standards to live up to. With social media closely controlling the modern teenager’s mental health, their minds are now awash with images of ‘polished’ Insta influencers and ‘perfectly’ photoshopped celebrities. 

We don’t need our women in sport to push that portrayal too. Women within sport are already a minority, so I say let their talent and hard work speak for itself. 

Although it might be worth mentioning that you can actually buy Barbie boxer dolls now – and that is something I can get on board with.

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