Former world champion Hannah Rankin responded to her September title defeat with a dominant victory over Logan Holler.
Six months after losing her WBA and IBO light-middleweight belts to Terri Harper, the Scot delivered a commanding display in Wolverhampton against her American opponent to win 100-90 on the judge’s scorecard.
Rankin said she was in the “best physical shape” of her life pre-fight, and it showed as the 32-year-old’s superiority shone through 10 rounds.
“My last performance wasn’t me in the ring,” Rankin said afterwards. “That was me back in there – back to winning ways and onto a third world title shot, that’s the goal.
“My goal is to bring a third world title back to Scotland. That’s my pride, that’s my home, that’s what I want to do. It’s all down to hard work and having great people around you.”
After a cagey opening round, Rankin began to force the pressure in the second and followed that up by landing quality shots in the third and fourth.
Holler, with championship ambitions of her own, failed to respond to the Scot’s dominance in the first half of the fight as the 31-year-old struggled to deal with Rankin’s jab.
Rankin was served a warning early in the sixth, though, when a strong round from the American resulted in the former two-belt world champion suffering a cut above her left eye.
But she responded well as Holler was left rocked at the end of the seventh when Rankin delivered a hard-hitting combination.
Holler looked rattled in the eighth and dug in as Rankin’s corner roared her on to force a stoppage as she ended with a bloodied face.
