Shannon O'Connell (born 20 January 1983) is an Australian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who has held the WBF female

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

World title, the WIBA super-bantamweight World title and the

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female

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

title.

Early life

O'Connell was born on 20 January 1983 in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. At the age of 2 her father Kevin O'Connell passed away in a speedway accident. As a result of the loss of her father, her mother Lynda became deeply troubled and much of Shannon's early life was marred by abuse and drug-use. She took up boxing at the age of 20 to rehabilitate a back injury she suffered playing netball. Her first coach was Terry Fox, an Adelaide boxer from the 1970s that competed in speedway competitions against her father.

Amateur career

O'Connell had a successful amateur career winning a national championship in her fifth fight. After a tournament in

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

she met Brisbane trainer Chris McCullen, notably a trainer of former world champion

Anthony Mundine Anthony Steven Mundine (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight title twice between 2003 a ...

and was persuaded to relocate to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to continue her career.

Professional career

O'Connell made her professional debut on 15 Dec 2011 winning by

Technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in round 3. In her second fight she fought for the Queensland state female bantamweight title and lost. After winning her next six fights (including the Queensland state female featherweight title) O'Connell fought South Korean Choi Hyun-mi for the WBA world female featherweight title, losing by unanimous decision to the hometown fighter in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. On 29 June 2013 O'Connell travelled to Secunda South Africa, to face Gabisile Tshabalala for the vacant WBF female featherweight title. O'Connell won the fight via seventh round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

winning her first world championship in just her 10th fight before stepping up in weight to take on the bigger and more experienced Diana Prazak for the WBC female super featherweight title. O'Connell lost the fight by 5th round TKO. On 6 July 2014, O'Connell won the vacant WIBA world super bantamweight title over Brownyn Wilie by unanimous decision. On 16 June 2017, O'Connell travelled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to take on experienced veteran

Marcela Acuña Marcela Eliana Acuña (born 16 October 1976) is an Argentine professional boxer and part-time politician. She has held multiple super bantamweight world titles, including the IBF title since 2018; the WBA title from 2006 to 2008; the WBC titl ...

for the IBF world female super bantamweight title. She lost by unanimous decision to the hometown fighter. O'Connell defeated Kori Farr by unanimous decision to win the vacant

female bantamweight title on 3 December 2020. She was named "Female Fighter of the Year" at The Inner Sanctum's 2021 Australian boxing awards. In July 2022 she was named the mandatory challenger for the IBF world bantamweight title, held by fellow Australian Ebanie Bridges. The boxers met at First Direct Arena, Leeds, England on 10 December 2022 with Bridges retaining her title by stopping O'Connell in round eight. On 4 October 2024, O'Connell was stopped in round four of a scheduled eight round contest against Mea Motu at The Star in Sydney, Australia.

Personal life

O'Connell has three children and resides in Slacks Creek, south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland. She was named the 2021

City of Logan The City of Logan is a local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) located in the south of Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast ...

"Sportswoman of the Year" and founded a gym in Slacks Creek named Shotgun Boxing and Fitness.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Shannon 1983 births Living people Martial artists from Adelaide Australian women boxers Featherweight boxers Boxers from Brisbane Sportswomen from South Australia