'Have some respect': Aussie boxer slammed over 'degrading' antics

British boxer Shannon Courtenay has accused Aussie opponent Ebanie Bridges of "degrading" the sport ahead of their world title fight.

An ugly war of words has erupted ahead of the world title showdown in London on Sunday, with Bridges calling Courtenay a "hypocrite".

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Bridges and Courtenay will do battle for the WBA world female bantamweight title on the undercard of Conor Benn’s fight against Samuel Vargas.

The Aussie Bridges, who was formerly a ring girl before becoming a fighter, is 5-0 in her professional career.

But it's her antics outside the ring that don't sit well with Courtenay.

Bridges has amassed an impressive social media following and regularly posts racy photos for her fans.

She has also been known to wear lingerie during weigh-ins.

“I’m a fighter, not a lingerie model,” Courtenay said on Wednesday.

“This is a world title fight. Have some respect for the game.

"You’ve got people like Katie Taylor who has worked her arse off for years to allow women like me to be in this position - through hard work and dedication she’s managed to get women’s boxing where it is - and you want to disrespect it and degrade the sport by talking about your weigh-in outfit and lingerie?

"Have some respect and some decorum for boxing.”

Ebanie Bridges hits back at Shannon Courtenay

But Bridges, who also works as a school teacher, says she's simply trying to promote the fight.

“Let’s be real. If I wore what everyone else wore, people wouldn’t be interested. I’d just be another fight. Whatever,” she told Sky Sports.

“I’m trying to bring more eyes to the sport.

"You can criticise me as much as you like. But if I looked plain then you wouldn’t even know this fight was happening.

“People will tune in to see if this girl wearing lingerie can actually fight, or is she just a model? The thing is; me and Shannon can really fight.”

Bridges also claimed the haters are just jealous of her.

“If people had my body and my confidence then they would do it, but people are too scared of being judged,” she said.

“As a bodybuilder I stood on stage in a bikini flexing my body. I love it. I don’t care what people think.

“Doing weigh-ins is showing off my hard work. It’s something I enjoy. I make it a thing where my fans can interact with me. This is an entertainment business.

“This is something different that others aren’t doing. Why do I need to be the same as everyone else?

“Everyone wears underwear at weigh-ins. Do you want me to wear a paper bag?”

The Aussie also took to Twitter to point out that Courtenay doesn't mind posting photos wearing skimpy outfits either.

“Maybe not lingerie but I wonder what sexy look she was going for in these posts??” Bridges wrote.

“And 70% of her pouty posts low cut tops on insta with lame captions pretending she ain’t trying to be hot lol stop being a hypocrite.”

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