FIGHTING TALK
Rankin is keen to share bill with Taylor in battle for boxing equality
THE last time she counted, the ambition of becoming a world champion had cost Hannah Rankin almost all of her life savings.
Yet, there are dreams she still hopes to fulfil that would justify every penny spent so far — and whatever else may need to be committed — on the ultimate mission of proving that the fight game’s warrior women deserve their rightful share of the rewards and the respect enjoyed by its leading men.
Rankin created her own little slice of history in June when lifting the IBO super-welterweight crown to become Scotland’s first female world-title holder and is fancied to add the WBC interim belt in Malta tomorrow night against the unbeaten Patricia Berghult of Sweden.
The 29-year-old, raised on a sheep farm near the Loch Lomondside village of Luss and a trained classical musician, understands why her rise has not attracted the acclaim that surrounded fellow Scot Josh Taylor’s unification of the WBA and IBF super-lightweight titles just last month.
She reluctantly accepts, too, that Taylor’s thrilling victory over American Regis Prograis at the 02 Arena in London has propelled him into the world of the multi-million-pound megabouts, while she still works four jobs to keep her career in the ring viable.
However, Rankin sees no reason why the pair, both now based in London, should not join forces in the near future and share the bill in a multiple world-title promotion — flying the flag for the nation and striking a blow for the greater equality she seeks within a sport that asks all its combatants to show the same dedication and confront the same dangers no matter their gender.
‘There were plans for Josh and me to be on the same card a little while ago, but things got changed around late on. Just boxing, as usual,’ revealed Rankin.
‘There is potential for that to happen, though, and I would love it to happen because Josh is a real hero to me. I’ve met him and he is amazing.
‘Scottish boxing is on a real surge right now, with Josh and me winning world titles, and Lee McGregor and Kash Farooq producing what I think was the fight of the year for the British and Commonwealth bantam titles. It is a wave to be ridden.
‘It is nice to see new talent coming through and I hope we can all push things forward together.
‘In general, 2019 has been fantastic for women’s sport. I think the women’s football World Cup in the summer helped a lot with that. Boxing is also starting to lend women more time, with Katie Taylor headlining a big promotion recently.
‘People are now coming through Olympic programmes to the pro game. The technical ability is there. Yet, we are still not being paid anywhere near the money the guys get when we are fighting on the same cards.
‘I am not doing a job that is any less dangerous than the one the guys do. I have put my body through hell for this next fight. The finances are something we still have to work on.’
RANKIN’S whirlwind journey since her first professional contest over two years ago has been a prime example of speculating to accumulate, mind you. Her recent contract with New York-based Salita Promotions, she hopes, is just the beginning of the payback.
In addition to losing two world title fights at higher weights in America before winning that IBO strap against Sarah Curran in Paisley, she has travelled across the world for sparring and brought US stablemate and undisputed middleweight queen Claressa Shields, who beat her in 2018, along with ex-world champion Mikaela Lauren into her camp to prepare for tomorrow’s bout in the Hotel Intercontinental in St Julian’s.
These experiences have proved invaluable, but they haven’t come cheaply.
‘If you want to get somewhere in this game, you should be willing to pay for sparring elsewhere,’ said Rankin, also a former student of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and London’s Royal Academy of Music and a talented bassoonist.
‘I’ve gone abroad, getting in with current world champions and people of experience. However, I have also spent most of my savings to get to where I am now.
‘While sponsorship and my team have paid some of it, I’d estimate getting to this stage has cost around £50,000. I couldn’t put a ballpark figure on what I have spent personally, but it is a lot.
‘I still work other jobs. I teach music and boxing classes. I play with orchestras and my quintet. I do motivational speaking. I am still having to work to fund what I do, but it is worth it.
‘As an opponent, fighting for titles in America, I was paid and looked after. Here, though, as with the fight where I won my world title, you’ve got to pay for your opponent’s team to be here, the purse, the sanctioning fees, the belt, the officials, everything.
‘When you set up a business self-employed, I guess you almost expect to make a loss when you first start — and I am a business.
‘I am a world champion already, but I feel my journey really starts now.’
Rankin’s first campaign in the quest for true equality is to stop women’s world titles being contested over ten two-minute rounds when men slug it out over 12 threes.
‘We are capable of fighting for longer,’ she said. ‘At elite level, there has to be a step up — maybe settling for a compromise of 12 two-minute rounds or ten threes.’
BEARING in mind the need to attract more women fighters to increase the talent pool, Rankin is also pushing for further improvements in safety in the wake of a calendar year which has witnessed the passing of five pro boxers — Patrick Day, Hugo Santillan, Maxim Dadashev, Boris Stanchov and Dwight Ritchie — and was scarred recently by an amateur female MMA fighter dying after sustaining a brain injury during a show in Southampton.
Rankin has always had the backing of father Andrew and sisters Emma and Alice. Boxing provided a form of therapy, after all, when her late mother Clare was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She hopes her own approach, though, can convince others to get involved despite concerns — along with particular ideas about femininity, perhaps — among their nearest and dearest.
‘I’ve been lucky to have the support of my family and I know some girls don’t have that when it comes to going into an aggressive combat sport,’ she said. ‘But it shouldn’t be viewed differently from rugby or bobsleigh.
‘There is danger in all of these things when you choose to become professional. You push your body to the max.
‘As a fighter, it is always desperately sad to hear of another fighter passing away. My family knows, though, that my preparation is top-notch. If I was injured, my coach wouldn’t let me fight. My trainer is there to look after me and save my life should anything happen. As a result, I don’t think about the dangers.
‘Cutting your weight can be dangerous and I do it slowly throughout my camp. Crashing pounds and pounds of water weight off right at the end is not healthy. My weight is checked at 30 days, 15 days and a week before the fight. That should be standard.
‘I have my MRI scans and medicals every year. I was visited the other night by the voluntary anti-doping body as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing programme.
‘But I also think electrolyte drinks should be used in the corner, too. We had them in Kansas when I fought Claressa.
‘In the UK, it is only water. What’s the harm, though? They won’t enhance performance and might help with dehydration issues and brain injuries.’
Rankin’s contest with Berghult will be streamed live on German website www.ranfighting.de and she believes greater exposure on TV is another essential element of bringing new recruits into the sport.
‘When I fought Alicia Napoleon in America in my first world title fight, we were pushed back to the end of the show and the cameras were turned off,’ recalled Rankin, who will have former world title contender Gary Jacobs in her corner in Malta alongside coach Noel Callan.
‘It was shocking. It was the fight of the night. The rest of the card was an absolute snoozefest.
‘I’m not saying women should get on big cards on anything other than merit, but having world title fights televised is important because that allows girls to have role models and aspire to get to that level — or be better.
‘Women’s boxing is getting there and it is only going to grow and grow.’