BOXWISE

WBA super welterweight as well as IBO champion Hannah Rankin has launched a programme in South Africa using boxing to empower young girls.

Photos: AFP | www.photosport.nz By: Julian Kiewietz

HANNAH Rankin epitomises the word “champion”.

Not only has she honed her skills and refined her talents as a boxer and a musician, but she also uses her time, heart and knowledge to help those in need.

Rankin — who recently beat Alejandra Ayala to retain her World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organisation super welterweight titles — visited South Africa once again to launch the BoxWise programme.

BoxWise is a non-profit social enterprise that uses boxing to help people at risk or from disadvantaged backgrounds with the aim of building their confidence, instilling discipline, adaptability and improving their health before assisting them with education and employment opportunities.

The London-based brand brought Rankin on board as an ambassador and she could not contain her excitement at the thought of bringing the project to SA — a country she fell in love with after her first visit last year when she beat Kholosa Ndobayini on the Fight Africa (in partnership with Jackie Brice) Promotions card at Pollsmoor Prison.

BoxWise — working with the Professional Fighting Championship gym in Bothasig — ran a five-day pilot project with organisations in Cape Town that are home to girls and women who were neglected, abused or at risk.

The project included participants from Rainbow House, Home to Home, Micah House, St Anne’s Home and Wolraad Woltemade Primary School.

Rankin said that there was nothing more rewarding than having the opportunity to empower young girls and women, who warmed up to the Scottish boxer and her BoxWise team as they used boxing to help inspire, uplift and improve their lives.

“I am really proud to be an ambassador for BoxWise, and when we had the opportunity to bring it to South Africa I was really happy to do that,” said Rankin.

“I have a voice that people listen to, especially as a champion. I want my legacy to be one that sees me do as much as I can for people, through boxing and through all my other ventures,” said Rankin who is also a professional bassoonist.

“This project has got a personal space in my heart. Listening to their stories and welcoming them into the BoxWise family has been a real privilege.”

Rankin added that despite the physical and cultural distance between her and the girls, who live miles away from each other, she connected with them immediately.

“I am blessed to have two careers or paths, one with boxing and one with music, but with both of these, you don’t need to speak the language, it doesn’t matter where you come from, all that matters is your hunger to learn. If you walk into any boxing gym in the world, if you are willing to put the work in, you can go really far, and that is how it connects worldwide. Boxing or music … And these girls and ladies are testament to that,” added Rankin.

TOP: Rankin teaches young girls from Cape Town the fundamentals of boxing.

LEFT: Rankin bobbed and weaved her way to an intelligent victory over Kholosa Ndobayini at Pollsmoor Correctional Facility in Cape Town.