Natasha Jonas: New WBO women’s super-welterweight champion eyes unification clash with Hannah Rankin | Boxing News

Newly-crowned world champion Natasha Jonas has her sights on a battle of Britain unification clash with Hannah Rankin after claiming the WBO belt in spectacular style on Saturday.

It was third time lucky for the 37-year-old as she knocked out Christian Namus inside two rounds on the undercard of the grudge match between Amir Khan and Kell Brook, having drawn with Terri Harper and lost to Katie Taylor in her previous world title challenges.

Jonas (11(8)-2-1) could now face Rankin (11(2)-5), current holder of the WBA and IBO belts, in an England versus Scotland showdown next and the Liverpudlian sees that prospect as an exciting one for both fighters and women’s boxing as a whole.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for both of us,” Jonas told Sky Sports News. “Hannah is someone I really look up to and respect.

“She’s done a lot for female boxing in Scotland and beyond, she fought champions in both Savannah [Marshall], Claressa [Shields] and many others, and she’s got two world titles so that’s how good she is.

“Do I believe I can win? Of course I do; I always back myself and I think it would be a great opportunity to showcase women’s boxing at its finest again on a big stage somewhere.”

Jonas had to go up three weight divisions for her latest title chance, having struggled to find a high-ranked opponent at lightweight.

And the 2012 world amateur championship bronze medallist revealed the work which went into ensuring she was able to produce an explosive finish in the win over Uruguay’s Namas in Manchester.

“People just think you’ve gone up a weight and it’s a case of eating more and dieting less, but it wasn’t,” Jonas said.

“There was a lot of science that went into that camp, I stayed at the weight I was probably going to be at in the fight and was at that for five or six weeks’ training and sparring heavier and taller opponents just so I know I could perform at that weight.

“My optimum weight that I got in with Taylor and Harper was obviously a little bit lighter, so it took me 10 weeks to build a little bit of strength and lean muscle.

I always back myself and I think it would be a great opportunity to showcase women’s boxing at its finest again on a big stage somewhere.

“I think it showed in my performance I was explosive, I hadn’t lost any speed or power, so it worked, and everyone worked well together.”

It was a night which saw Jonas finally achieve her world title dream after the setbacks against Harper and Taylor, not to mention the TKO loss at the hands of Viviane Obenauf in her seventh professional fight.

Indeed, she has used all of the experiences, good and bad, gained during her career and has no thoughts that her potential fight with Rankin might be her last.

“As long as my mental state is with me, my body can do anything it wants,” Jonas said. “You just need your mind to be with you and after Obenauf and the struggle of building myself back up from there, there are lots of things I’ve learnt about myself and taken into every fight.

“I’ve learnt from the bad things that have happened and the mistakes I’ve made before, and if you don’t learn from the mistakes then there’s a problem.

“I feel so relieved that I got the opportunity [to fight for the world title again] and then got the opportunity to go out and do what I needed to do on such a big card.”