BLONDE AMBITION: Determined Rankin takes the ight to Curran
ON the Kynoch Promotions event at Paisley Lagoon, billed as “History in the Making”, due to Hannah Rankin from Luss was making a bid for the vacant IBO super-welterweight title. For many in the industry, including this publication, the IBO is not a legitimate world belt but for Rankin, who has worked so hard to get into this position, it will rightly mean the world. Now in her more natural weight class after failed attempts for major belts at middle and super-middle, she faced off against slick Illinois boxer Sarah Curran. Rankin struggled to close down Curran in the first few rounds and the American’s movement was causing her some problems.
By the fourth Rankin was coming back into things although it was still a nip-andtuck fight with some of the rounds being hard to score. It was all down to who wanted it more and who caught the judges’ eye over the second half of the fight. In the end, they preferred the comeforward style of Rankin over the defensive skills of Curran. Marcus McDonnell held Rankin’s arm high as all three judges scored the contest 96-94 in her favour afer a bout which could really have gone either way.