By Barry Wilner
The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - What better place for Tonya Harding to make her professional boxing debut than as part of the latest bizarre Mike Tyson show.

The fact that figure skating's bad girl is on the undercard for Saturday night's Tyson-Clifford Etienne heavyweight fight lends a further air of absurdity to the scene.

On Monday, when Tyson decided he was too ill to fight Etienne, Harding was all packed and ready to head home. When Tyson changed his mind, Harding's bout with Samantha Browning was back on - until Etienne balked.

It looks like everyone finally is set to go at the Pyramid, leading observers to wonder what might happen next. A full-face tattoo for Tonya, perhaps?

Harding, looking buff and ready to slug it out with equally inexperienced Browning, believes she's found a new career. Considering that she's an outcast in the skating world because of her involvement in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan nine years ago, isn't it about time Harding found a livelihood?

"This is exciting and powerful," said Harding, the 1991 and 1994 national figure skating champion. She was stripped of the second title when her connection to the Kerrigan attack surfaced. "It's half mental and half physical. You put it all together and it makes one."

Harding, 32, signed a four-year contract with a company in Nashville for other fights. In the funky world of boxing, she could become an attraction if she can punch the way she could jump as a skater.

Her only previous bout was a celebrity exhibition against Paula Jones that Harding won easily. At first, Harding thought it was nothing more than a one-night joke, but then she found landing punches as exhilarating as landing triple axels.

"It's completely different," she said, comparing the Jones fight to her bout Saturday night. "That was not a pro fight. I had one hour training for that. It wasn't a serious thing. But once we got into the ring it got more serious.

"It gave me a feeling about performing in the ring. I love the fans. I love performing for people."

Not that she has many other options that would keep her in the limelight. Banned by the U.S. Figure Skating Association, she is virtually untouchable for other skating promoters, too. They don't want to jeopardize the eligibility - or the integrity - of other skaters. Besides, it's been almost a decade since the Tonya-Nancy saga, and Harding is a has-been on the ice.

The negative headlines Harding has made in recent years - fights with boyfriends, alcohol-related charges - haven't helped legitimize any of her projects, either. So maybe the ring is a perfect replacement for the rink.

Her trainer, Jeff Hargis, thinks so.

"I've been real pleased," he said. " It didn't take long to realize Tonya is serious about this."

She needs to be, because there aren't too many more stops for her on the sports stage.

"After this Saturday, they'll see how fundamentally solid I am," she said. "They'll find out Saturday how serious I am."