FORMER Hermitage Academy pupil Hannah Rankin has set her sights on a world title rematch with Sweden's Patricia Berghult after the Scot won her first fight of 2020.

The Luss boxer boxer defeated former world champion Eva Bajic in a third round knockout at the Lagoon Centre in Paisley on Saturday.

It was the 29-year-old's first fight since losing her IBO super-welterweight title to Berghult on points in Malta in November.

Posting on Instagram after the fight, Rankin issued a challenge to Berghult, saying: “You beat me, legged it back to Sweden and no-one’s heard from you since.”

READ MORE: Hannah Rankin begins 2020 with knockout win over Eva Bajic

And in a chat with the Advertiser this week, she said: “A rematch with Berghult is what I want, but I’ll leave that to my management team – hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m back in the ring though.”

Serbian Bajic was knocked to the canvas in the opening round, and was floored twice more in round three before thereferee called a halt to the contest.

Rankin said: “I was really pleased. All the hard work I put in during training really paid off, and a stoppage was exactly what I wanted.”

Rankin’s pre-fight preparations were disrupted when her scheduled opponent, Ghanaian Gifty Ankrah, had to pull out of the fight after encountering administrative hurdles she was unable to overcome.

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

But the Scot said the late change in opponent didn’t alter the way she approached her fight in front of a sell-out crowd.

“It didn’t change my preparations at all,” she continued. “I had a game plan I’ve been working on, and I went out and imposed that on my new opponent, and it worked.

“I think fighting at home gives you a bit of an extra edge, and the support was unreal – again.”

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