Ebanie Bridges has a new opponent for her defense of the IBF bantamweight title.
Bridges will face former junior bantamweight champion Miyo Yoshida on Dec. 9 on the Regis Prograis-Devin Haney DAZN PPV at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Bridges announced Friday on her Instagram account.
Yoshida replaces bantamweight contender Avril Mathie, who was forced to pull out earlier this week because of an undisclosed injury, sources told ESPN, confirming news first reported by Sports Illustrated.
Yoshida (16-4) is 2-3 in her past five fights, including a unanimous-decision loss to Shurretta Metcalf on Nov. 7.
The fight between Mathie and Bridges, who are both from Australia, had also been scheduled for Dec. 9 at the Chase Center.
Bridges (9-1, 4 KO), 37, ESPN’s No. 2 ranked bantamweight, won the title by defeating Maria Cecilia Roman by unanimous decision in March 2022. She made one successful defense, an eighth-round stoppage of Shannon O’Connell last December.
Mathie (8-1-1, 3 KO), 36, started her career unbeaten in her first eight fights, with one draw, but lost a 10-round decision to Ramla Ali in her most recent outing in February at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight against Bridges would have been Mathie’s first title bout.
Information from Michael Rothstein was used in this report.
Source: www.espn.com