HANNAH RANKIN has revealed she is set to headline an all-female boxing card later this year as she competes for her second world title – and admits it’s about time the event took place.

The Luss boxer was set to compete at the ‘Rise of the Champions’ event at the end of July at Hamilton Academical’s Fountain of Youth stadium.

She’ll no longer be taking part in the Lanarkshire event, scheduled for July 31, but will instead head up the historic card in the coming months.

The location of the show and details of Rankin’s opponent have not yet been announced but the former Hermitage Academy pupil, who became Scotland’s first ever female world champion two years ago, feels honoured to be headlining such a ground-breaking show.

Speaking exclusively to the Advertiser, she said: “I’m really proud to be headlining a really pioneering card because we haven’t had an all-female card here in the UK and it’s great to be at the forefront of that.

“It’s about time we had an all-female card. Some people are saying they aren’t sure if we are ready for that yet, but when are we going to be ready?

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“I can’t say anything about opponents or what the title is just yet, but what I can say I’m looking forward to fighting for a world title and bringing it home to Scotland.

“It’s looking like it will take place in September or October time and by that time there’s going to be less restrictions and it means fans can travel.

“It’s going to be a great night and there will be some fantastic boxers on the card and being headline fight is really exciting for me.”

The 31-year-old was in the ring at the weekend for an exhibition bout with ‘Hurricane’ Hannah Baggaley, who was due to make her professional debut on Friday night until her opponent pulled out of the fight at the 11th hour.

Rankin was all too happy to step in and showcase Blackpool’s Baggaley – who will now fight for the first time as a professional at the July 31 event in Hamilton in Rankin’s place – as she knows how it feels to have your first fight postponed.

She explained: “My pro debut was on three or four times and it got cancelled three or four times so I know how frustrating it is.

“She had put all that had work into it so I wanted to help Hannah out.”