Terri Harper secures WBA title with dominant win over Hannah Rankin

Terri Harper (right) was dominant throughout the bout

Terri Harper was crowned the new WBA super-welterweight champion with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Scotland's Hannah Rankin.

And Harper continued to be dominant to claim a deserved win.

The 25-year-old is now a two-time world champion having previously held the super-featherweight title.

• Reaction and as it happened

After the historic nature of Rankin's last fight - being the first female to headline a bout in her homeland - this fight would have felt different for the reigning champion as she had to drown out boos from the crowd before the first bell.

A cagey first round ended with Harper getting the better of it and reddening Rankin's face before Harper started the second round with an impressive three-punch combination, opening up Rankin's left eyebrow with a right-hand jab over the top.

Harper spent the build-up to the fight promising to be too quick and too fast for the Scottish boxer, and she proved herself correct in the third round as she manoeuvred around her opponent with ease, continuing to highlight Rankin's susceptibility to a right-hand jab.

The fourth followed in similar fashion with Harper continuing to showcase her explosive speed despite signs of slight tiring coming towards the end of the round, which was also used as the main source of motivation from Rankin's corner after the bell.

As the fight reached the halfway mark in the fifth, the defending champion began to close in on the challenger and seemed to warm to the task.

The sixth reverted to the rhythm of the earlier rounds though, with Harper looking at relative ease despite Rankin's intensity increasing as she began to chase a way back into the contest.

Rankin stepped up her attack again in round seven as the fight ticked towards the championship rounds, but the challenger landed one of the best shots of the night with a powerful right handed punch in the closing second of the round. Rankin took it well but noticeably backed off.

Harper looked well in her groove as the next 120 seconds came and went, with both fighters knowing it would take something spectacular to swing the contest either way.

The Scottish fighter was unable to close the gap in the penultimate round as Harper continued to pepper jabs in her direction, something Rankin failed to nullify all evening.

In the tenth and final round Harper showed great fighting knowhow to not get drawn into Rankin's range, with the Scot unable to find the necessary route to retaining her titles with Harper deservedly winning her second world championship.