Tonya may fight on October 25th; new Brennan article
Terry Hall
a few bits of news: firstly East Side Boxing is reporting that
Tonya is to fight on the undercard of a nationally and internationally
televised event dubbed the "Everlast Heavyweight Explosion" on Saturday,
Oct. 25, at Sam's Town Hotel & Casino in Robinsonville, Miss. Her
opponent will be Hollie Dunaway (whom she was originally scheduled to
fight in Dallas back in August) of Fort Smith, Arkansas in a four round
bout. A photo of Dunaway can be found at:
http://www.wban.org/images/111dunaway04180312.jpg
At this stage, however, there is some confusion as to if the fight will
actually take place, as we have heard Tonya has a sinus infection and
may have to pull out on medical grounds. In fact, there are rumors
circulating that she has already pulled out. We are currently trying to
ascertain what the situation is and will keep you posted.
If the fight does go ahead, the card starts at 8 p.m. (Central) with
doors to the River Place Entertainment Center opening at 7. Tickets,
priced at $15 for reserved and $20 for ringside reserved, are on sale
Monday through Saturday from noon until 8 p.m. at Sam's Town Hotel &
Casino or by calling 800-456-0711. Whether the Tonya fight will be
televised isn't stated.
Kerry Eggers in the "Portland Tribune" of October 10 is reporting
that Tonya's trainer & manager, Paul Brown, is also working on several
other potential matches including one in Oakland on November 15, and
December 12 in Portland. The latter event may include Mia St. Johns,
Lucia Rijker and Portland's own Molly McConnell (making her pro debut).
"We are on a seven- or eight-fight mission," Brown promises. "We want to
see what she can do."
Sue "TL" Fox of WBAN recently interviewed Tonya and shot some photos &
video of her. Unfortunately it looks as if the photos are in the
subscriber's area, but that in itself is interesting as it indicates Ms.
Fox actually thinks people are willing to pay to see footage of Tonya
working out, which suggests she must be taking Tonya's boxing efforts
more seriously than she has in the past. Previously she has been rather
derisive of Tonya's boxing attempts, seeing it as almost an
embarassment for women's boxing, so this is quite a turnaround. One
freely accessible photo can be found on the "What's New" page at:
http://www.womenboxing.com/what's.htm, though.
Finally, another article about Tonya's new career has been written by
Christine Brennan, and - shock! horror! - it's actually fairly
sympathetic! Was that a pig that just flew past the window? It can be
found at:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/brennan/2003-10-09-brennan_x.htm
Terry Hall
Head of Special Duties Section
Portland Ice Skating Society - New Zealand's Tonya Harding fan club
http://www.geocities.com/portice