Why Hannah Rankin Was Always Destined To Star On The BBC
Hannah Rankin’s next fight not only serves as the latest installment in her career but also in the BBC’s coverage of live boxing. In many ways, it’s a match made in heaven. Here’s why.
Hannah Rankin is an alumnus of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, a musical higher education institute. So alongside being a former unified super-welterweight champion, Rankin is a professional bassoonist player.
Hannah Rankin On The BBC
A classically-trained musician turned female sporting role model. Rankin’s career has BBC written all over it. That’s because she promotes progressive modern values (pioneering female participation in boxing) with a quintessential British quirk (an unlikely, orchestral background).
Hannah Rankin also fits the BBC brand because her career tells the story of bouncing back from defeat and having faith that the next opportunity always lies around the corner. She suffered an early loss in her career to an unheralded 1-0 fighter in Norway. And she has also tasted defeat 5 times since then. However, none in such a circumstance as ending up on the wrong side of that split decision in favor of Joanna Ekedahl in Norway.
That’s because every setback since has come in a world championship fight, including Rankin’s last outing against the esteemed, Terri Harper. So, Rankin’s ascent to the status as a boxing icon in Scotland (last year was the culmination of this rise because she headlined The SSE Hydro) teaches the virtue of never being deterred in the pursuit of fulfilling a dream, which can be inherited by many generations to come. And that is at its heart, a BBC story.
Last but not least, Hannah Rankin has also shown a willingness to take on the best. Daring to be great and striving for glory are two mantras illustrated by the fact she is the only British fighter that’s so far been willing to step in the ring with Savannah Marshall, in the pro ranks.
Before that, she even jetted off to America to take on self-declared G.W.O.A.T, Claressa Shields. She’d come up short in both fights, but it shows that her focus has always been on competing at the pinnacle of the sport, with no fear of who she is taking on in the opposite corner.
While the BBC does cover a spotlight segment on the small hall boxing scene, it is ultimately still by, name and nature, a corporation. Media corporations thrive off being able to make any story as relevant to a wider audience as possible. And it doesn’t take Nostradamus to hazard a guess that Rankin’s past rivalries with Shields and Marshall will be a talking point on Friday night, given the history-making night between the Scott’s two former foes, last October.
Now it’s Hannah Rankin’s turn in the spotlight. She’s fighting the American, Logan Holler (9 wins, 2 defeats, 1 draw) and the fight is available to watch across the BBC’s digital platforms on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and the BBC Sport app.
By Harry Duffy