Meet the Aussie beauty queen turned boxer who wants to take on world champion Ebanie Bridges

Avril Mathie has a lot in common with boxing world champion Ebanie Bridges: they’re both glamorous Aussies who have forged careers in the ring and on OnlyFans – and if she gets her wish, she’ll soon fight the ‘Blonde Bomber’.

The 35-year-old from Sydney has run up eight victories and one draw in her professional career and has now set her sights on Bridges, who won the IBF featherweight title in March 2022 and defended it in a grudge match against Aussie Shannon O’Connell last December.

Bridges is one of the biggest names in women’s boxing due to her skill and bravery in the ring – but also her habit of wearing lingerie to weigh-ins, down-to-earth demeanour and disarming sense of humour.  

Mathie – who won the Miss Swimsuit USA International beauty crown in 2014 – is in Bridges’ weight class and she’s keen to punch on with her countrywoman as soon as possible.

Mathie shows off the form that won her the Miss Swimsuit USA International beauty crown in 2014. Nine years later she’s an accomplished pro boxer with an 8-0-1 record

The Sydneysider took up boxing in 2012 and racked up 20 amateur fights before turning professional in 2017

‘I think Ebanie is very intelligent and I take my hat off to her,’ she told Talksport.

‘That will be a killer fight, I’m really excited for it. 

‘She brings it and likes to come forward and never really takes a step back, but I can also bang and come forward. I think there’ll be fireworks.

‘I’m significantly taller than her, so for me it’s going to be about keeping her away from me, which will be a challenge because we’ve seen how she likes to get in.

‘But it’s one that I’m ready for, so as soon as her hands get better, we can get it on.’

Bridges is currently recovering from surgery to repair her right hand, which she says she broke before her war with O’Connell. She had to have bone taken from her hip to complete the job due to the severity of the injury.

Mathie started boxing in 2012, racking up 20 amateur bouts before turning professional in December 2017 and quickly impressing fans.

In addition to her Miss Swimsuit USA International win, she also took out the Las Vegas International Model Search in December 2015.

Bridges poses with the belt she successfully defended by knocking out her Aussie arch rival Shannon O’Connell in December last year

The ‘Blonde Bomber’ has become a fan favourite thanks to her bravery and all-action style in the ring – not to mention her habit of wearing lingerie to weigh-ins (pictured)

She fights this Saturday at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden against rising British star Ramla Ali for the vacant IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight title.

Bridges capped off her incredible 2022 by winning Sports Illustrated magazine’s Breakout Boxer of the Year Award, with the publication’s boxing expert Chris Mannix saying, ‘Bridges has proven she’s more than an attraction, ending ’22 as arguably the top fighter in the 118-pound division.’

Her stoush with O’Connell was highly controversial, with her fellow Aussie trying to intimidate her when they met face-to-face before the bout by telling her, ‘You’re f**ked, b***h.’

Mathie is in for the biggest fight of her life on Saturday, when she faces British star Ramla Ali for the vacant IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight title

O’Connell also insulted Bridges over her weight before the bout, describing her as a ‘fat c***’ before they stood on the scales, insulted her for wearing lingerie to weigh-ins and launched a vile outburst in the ring after losing the bout by knockout.

‘She just hates me, and we’ve never met,’ Bridges after the fight.

‘She keeps saying things about me, calling me a skanky stripper – I’m apparently ‘naked’ because I’m wearing lingerie.

‘Everyone wears underwear. What the f***! The message I’m pushing is stop judging women. I’m embracing my femininity.’