| Venue: Hydro, Glasgow Date: Friday, 13 May |
| Coverage: Full live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
Rewriting the history books is not new to Hannah Rankin.
Back in June 2019, the 31-year-old became Scotland’s first female world champion, claiming the IBO super-welterweight belt on home soil.
In the following three years, that title has been taken from the grasp of the Luss-born fighter before being regained last November, along with the WBA belt, after a points victory over Maria Lindberg in London.
The significance of Friday night, however, will outweigh the gravity of any title-winning high, according to the champion, who will become the first Scottish female to headline a major bout in her homeland when she enters the ring with Mexican challenger Alejandra Ayala at the country’s largest indoor arena.
“The fact I’m making history for my country is special,” Rankin tells BBC Scotland, while looking over her shoulder to Glasgow’s Hydro from a nearby hotel rooftop. “It makes me burst with pride. My whole heart is overflowing.
“There are younger girls coming along to this fight. They’ll be thinking: ‘That’ll be me one day’. That’s what it’s all about, inspiring them. I’m going to put on a show for them. That’s what I’m here for.”
‘Now we’re household names’
Britain didn’t have a licensed female boxer until 1998. Jane Couch was that woman, a pioneer who delivered her biggest knockout blow in a tribunal with the British Boxing Board of Control after the governing body had initially refused to grant a licence on the sole basis she was female.
Slow progress was made in the following two decades. The past couple of years, however, “the rise has been astronomic,” says Rankin, whose first professional fight in 2017 didn’t come until she was 26.
Katie Taylor’s epic split-decision victory over Amanda Serrano earlier this month set a new milestone, becoming the first women’s headline event at the iconic Madison Square Garden.
In Rankin’s case, the Scot’s last home bout in 2020 was at a Paisley-based leisure centre. Braehead Arena was the original venue for Friday’s fight, but after a rapid sell out, the date was delayed a month to switch venue to the Hydro, where a crowd of around 5,000 is expected to cheer on the champion.
Asked what she would say if someone told her two years ago that her next Scotland fight would carry this level of magnitude, Rankin laughs and replies: “You’re taking the… to be perfectly polite.
“When I first started out, you wouldn’t have believed it. It’s amazing to see where the sport is going. People are realising there are women fighters out there. We’re exciting, we’re fun to watch and now we’re household names.”
Taylor controversy concerns Ayala
Rankin cannot allow the occasion to overwhelm her, though. The champion is prepared to embrace the expectancy that will come with her landmark homecoming fight. “Pressure is a privilege,” she says.
Mexican challenger Ayala, who boasts a better win record and far superior knockout rate, stands in the way. But the 33-year-old, in her first world title bout, will still enter the ring as the underdog.
The vast majority – if not all – of the Glasgow crowd will be roaring in favour if the champion, but the relaxed and confident Ayala is “here to shock Scotland”.
“I don’t hear the crowd,” she tells BBC Scotland. “I’m just attuned to myself and to my corner. I feel the strongest I’ve ever felt. I want this so badly and I’m going to show it in there.
“We have a plan, but if the plan doesn’t work, we’re going to go all out ‘Viva Mexico’. We’re going to brawl it out. I’m going to leave everything out there.”
There is just one concern for Ayala, a source of dread fuelled by Josh Taylor’s controversial victory over Jack Catterall in the same venue in February.
“I saw that fight… wow,” the challenger adds. “I’m a little bit worried about the judges.
“Whether you believe it or not, I know for a fact there’s a bias, even if it’s subconscious. It won’t be the first or the last [decision like that]. I just have to convince.”
