Ringqueenonknockingout someold-fashionedattitudes
Boxing champion Hannah Rankin is proud of her two world titles but is just as proud about helping change opinions about female sport, writes Murray Scougall.
The boxer, who returns to the ring on Friday as she sets her sights on winning a world title for the third time, has seen views change massively since her first professional fight six years ago – and she believes lockdown had a positive impact on that shift in attitudes.
“We had a captive audience at home and they chose to put top-level female fights on TV,” she said. “My fight with Savannah Marshall was dubbed the WBC’S most dramatic fight of the year and I think every female given the platform has performed and showcased ourselves.
“It’s fast-paced two-minute rounds and people said, ‘Actually, this is great.’ It lit a fire under the sport and it was the break we needed.
“Now women’s boxing has become so popular – look at the Savannah Marshall-claressa Shields fight at the O2 in London. It was groundbreaking, huge. There were so many people at the fight and it’s been nominated for Fight of the Year.”
In this week’s P.S. interview, Rankin talks about how her mental health suffered after one of her opponents was placed into an induced coma following their fight, the close relationship she enjoyed with her late mum, and the pioneering sports science research she is currently participating in at Abertay University in Dundee.
“To be part of such forward-thinking research into professional athletes is super-important to me,” she added. “There’s a distinct lack of research, so to be part of it is important and I’d like it to be part of my legacy, giving back to the sport that has given me so much.”