I WAS absolutely delighted to hear that Hannah Rankin was successful on Friday night in her fight in Glasgow. I have been following Rankin’s story for a while now and met her late last year when she was named as a finalist in the UWS Sportswomen of the Year Award.
Rankin was up against former IBF welterweight champion Eva Bajic and won Friday’s super welterweight contest 78-74 – which made it her sixth victory in nine professional bouts. Originally from Luss, Rankin is now based in London and is a fascinating young women whom I had the pleasure of interviewing on Tuesday night’s #letshearitforthegirls on Rock Sport Radio. Her ambition for 2019 is to become Scotland’s first female world boxing champion.
Many people hold down two professional roles at the same time, however I never thought I would meet a female professional boxer who is also a classically trained musician specialising in the bassoon. There is a first time for everything!
I also found out later that she is a direct descendant of Rob Roy and sports a flash of the family tartan on the side of her shorts.
This young women clearly shows that you can be anything you want to be and that there are no barriers. She also demonstrates that it is more than acceptable to be physically strong and feminine at the same time. One of her recent social media posts prior to the fight was to thank the hairdresser who cleverly braided her hair for the fight.
It was interesting hearing about how she funds her sport and the costs that are incurred when your fight is on home soil at your invitation. Basically, all the costs associated with that fight land at the door of the home crew. So in order for her to realise her ambition and make Scotland proud, she has launched a crowd-funding scheme to try to raise £10,000 to help pay the costs of training full time, travelling for sparring camps, kit and fight wear, medicals and licensing costs. Making a name for herself Hannah is picking up bits and pieces of sponsorship and just recently announced a new sponsor from the US following a recent fight there against Claressa Shields.
Follow Team_Rankin on social media to keep up with her progress and if you feel inclined to offer support or sponsorship, you can make contact that way.
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