Former world champion Hannah Rankin is wasting no time in her bid to win back a world title belt – and the road she hopes will lead to success will begin at home.

The former Hermitage Academy pupil announced last Friday that she’ll take on Ghanaian fighter Gifty Ankrah on the Kynoch Boxing bill at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley on February 8.

Ankrah is a two-time world title challenger and is ranked at number five in the super-welterweight world rankings by the World Boxing Council.

The bout will take place little more than two months after the Luss fighter lost her IBO world title after a shock points defeat at the hands of Sweden’s Patricia Berghult in Malta.

READ MORE: Rankin vows to bounce back after shock loss of world title

Announcing news of February’s fight on her social media channels, 29-year-old Rankin said: “I’ve never been one to take the easy route and I won’t start now.”

News of the bout was announced the day before Rankin was chosen as one of Scotland’s top 10 sportswomen of the decade by the Advertiser’s sister paper, The Herald, who described her world title win over Sarah Curran a tthe Lagoon Centre in June as “not only a personal triumph for Rankin but also for the sport in Scotland”.

Others in the top 10 included Olympic medal winning rower Katherine Grainger, track athletes Eilidh Doyle and Laura Muir, and golfer Catriona Matthew, who was made an OBE in the New Year honours list after captaining Europe to Solheim Cup glory against the USA at Gleneagles in September.

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