Scottish boxing star Hannah Rankin reveals 'double whammy' heartache cost her in agonising world title defeat

Hannah Rankin admits the loss of her gran meant her mind was elsewhere going into her unified super-welterweight world title defeat to Ema Kozin last year.

The Scottish star lost out in the bout for the WBC and WBO title on a split decision on the undercard of Nick Ball's lightweight clash with Isaac Dogboe at the Manchester Arena back in November. Rankin, 33, went into the championship fight as as a former two-time world title holder, having captured the IBO super-welterweight belt in 2019 and the WBA super-welterweight strap two years later.

The Luss-born boxer didn't want to make excuses for her loss to Kozin but says that the family bereavement really affected her mindset both before and after the fight. Speaking to iFL TV, she said: "To be honest, the whole experience was frustrating and was a bit overshadowed with my gran's passing and her being in hospital.

"I found it very difficult to process the fight because I was also grieving for my gran. I lost on a split decision and it wasn't my best performance as I wasn't able to showcase how I wanted to box. There were a lot of other things going on but to lose out on so many big opportunities that I was rooting towards was hard to deal with but at the same time was very muted while the whole family is grieving.

"We had the funeral to prepare and everything like that. I was so close to my gran so it was a double whammy of c***, basically."

Rankin (13-7), who has joined up with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, returns to the ring on April 27 in Liverpool where she will face Tanzania's Grace Mwakamele, who has won nine and lost four of her 13 professional contests. The Scot says she still dreams of becoming a world boxing champion for the third time and would be