HANNAH RANKIN emerged victorious from her first fight of the new year on Friday after a convincing points decision in her favour – and she’s already eager to get back into the ring.

The former Hermitage Academy pupil won her super-welterweight contest against Serbia’s Eva Bajic at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow.

In her first fight on home soil since winning the vacant World Boxing Council silver female middleweight title by defeating Finland’s Sanna Turunen at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley last June, Rankin won Friday’s contest 78-74 to record her sixth victory in nine professional bouts.

The Luss fighter looked stronger from the first bell, backing her opponent on to the ropes during round five of the eight-round contest.

On her Twitter feed immediately after the bout, the 28-year-old said she was “proud” to have secured victory and thanked her team, coach Noel Callan, manager Sam Kynoch and her sponsors, family, friends and supporters for their backing.

And she’s already looking forward to her next opponent – back on Twitter on Tuesday, Rankin said: “So it’s been four days since fight night and I’ve rested...when’s the next one? Looking forward to getting back in there already!”