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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
Ebanie Bridges is heading back into the ring for the second defense of her IBF bantamweight title.
Bridges will fight fellow Australian Avril Mathie on Dec. 9 at the Chase Center in San Francisco as part of the Devin Haney-Regis Prograis undercard. The fight will be Bridges’ first since she had hand surgery last year and her first in the United States since 2020, when she beat Crystal Hoy in Hammond, Indiana
Bridges (9-1, 4 KO) last fought in December 2022 when she stopped Shannon O’Connell in the eighth round in her first title defense. She won the title earlier in 2022 with a unanimous decision win over Maria Cecilia Roman.
Mathie (8-1-1, 3 KO) last fought in February, when she lost a unanimous decision to Ramla Ali at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden on the Amanda Serrano-Erika Cruz undercard. This will be Mathie’s first chance at a title. She has fought all but three of her fights in the United States.
Even though both fighters are from Australia, they have since made their homes elsewhere — Mathie lives in Florida and Bridges lives in England. They also both have large social media followings — Mathie has more than 309,000 Instagram followers and Bridges more than 782,000.