www.freep.com Tonya Harding won't fight at Palace after all
LANSING -- Criminal conspirator, pro boxer and former figure skater Tonya Harding won’t be trying her hands and feet at cage fighting at the Palace next week after all.
Joe Donofrio, promoter of the Extreme Cage Fight War event, said today that it turns out Harding is ineligible to compete in an amateur fight in Michigan because she has previously boxed professionally. She’ll still make an appearance and sign autographs, Donofrio said.
Harding was scheduled to box on Jan. 24.
The promoter was one of several dozen mixed martial arts enthusiasts who testified today at a hearing on proposed state rules for unarmed combat (boxing and cage fighting). Most said the proposed rules need revision to clarify the status of amateur contests.
Joyce Karr, with the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Development, said she thought an accommodation could be reached to allow completion of the rule-making process this year.
Until then, professional mixed martial arts remains illegal in the state except on native Indian reservations.