Hannah Rankin is used to breaking down barriers in sport.
In 2019 the Luss-born fighter became Scotland’s first female boxing world champion, defeating American Sarah Curran on a night of high emotions in Paisley.
And earlier this year a dominant showing saw Hannah defeat Mexico’s Alejandra Ayala at a packed Hydro in the first defence of her IBO and WBA world championship belts.
However, Hannah is also aiming to smash down barriers outside the ring - as she aims to join a group almost as rare as female Scottish boxing world champions. Female boxing commentators.
Hannah told the Lennox: “I was supposed to be fighting in front of a home crowd last July, however, my plans changed and instead I did the commentary for that.
“I’ve really enjoyed being involved in the media side, especially commentary.
“I think professional sport, and especially boxing, could do with some more female voices.
“It’s definitely an avenue that I’ll be pursuing after my professional boxing life.
“I want to still be involved in the sport and I really enjoy the geeky side. Learning about other fighters, opponents, the setups and stuff.
“For me, that’s a dream job.
“There are definitely plans ahead to do some commentary with Sky Sports and broadcasters like that.
“I’m putting in the groundwork now.”
As a professional musician outside the ring, Hannah is used to performing under pressure away from boxing - and admits that the move behind the mic, which included working for Sky Sports during Josh Taylor’s world title defence earlier this year, was one that she instantly felt comfortable with.
The former Hermitage Academy pupil continued: “I’ve got quite used to talking into a microphone. I do a lot of media in the lead-up to my fights so I’m quite used to having a camera in my face.
“I’ve done quite a few high-profile fights now too.
“I always say to fighters who are coming through that it’s really important you get media training or practice things like that.
“The more you do it, the more confident you get. It’s the connection between you and the crowd. It’s how you build a fanbase.
“People might not know anything about you, but they love to hear you speak, hear where you’ve come from and what you do.
“If you get comfortable with that then it’s a real addition to your game as a fighter.
“FightZone has been fantastic. They are giving fighters on the card a slot to have a chat with the commentary team.
“That’s such a forward-thinking way of doing stuff. It means that the public watching gets to hear what a fighter sounds like, what their humour might be like and what sort of character they are.”
And Hannah hopes she can be a role model to young girls looking to get involved in the historically male-dominated boxing world.
She added: “To headline the Hydro and have such a massive array of people from all different backgrounds coming to support me was just incredible.
“It was amazing to be involved in something like that.
“I’m really hoping that young girls will now see that there is a pathway there.
“When I was growing up, there weren’t many strong female role models in boxing.
“Part of being a world champion is that you should represent your sport and represent yourself and promote the sport, and that’s something I love doing.”
