People

Harding puts up her dukes

Portland, Ore. ” “Celebrity Boxing” wasn’t a one-time thing for Tonya Harding.

The former Olympic figure skater will make her debut as a professional fighter before the Mike Tyson-Clifford Etienne bout on Feb. 22.

After pummeling Paula Jones on the Fox show “Celebrity Boxing” in March, Harding said she’s ready to get into the ring for real.

“It is my goal to be a future, undisputed bantamweight champion. My proven athletic ability and competitive nature will help this dream become a reality,” the 31-year-old said Tuesday at a news conference with Tyson in Tunica, Miss.

Organizers said an opponent for Harding hasn’t yet been lined up.

Former Miss America engaged

Portland, Ore. ” Former Miss America Katie Harman is set to become a Mrs.

The 22-year-old is engaged to her beau of five months, Air National Guard fighter pilot Capt. Tim Ebner.

Ebner proposed about three weeks ago, on one knee, a diamond ring waiting on his Bible and red roses scattered around the house.

“When I saw it, I was blown away,” Harman said of the ring that Ebner had made for her in secret. “It was better than I imagined.”

The Oregonian reported Wednesday that the couple, who began dating in June, were planning a big church wedding next summer and looking for a home near Portland State University, where Harman returns to school in January.

Limp Bizkit singer settles lawsuit

Los Angeles ” Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst settled a $5 million battery lawsuit filed by a former lighting technician who claimed he hit her and broke her nose during the “Anger Management” tour.

Terms of the settlement, reach last month, were not released.

Connie Paulson sued Durst in November 2001 in Los Angeles Superior Court. She alleged the singer had a “fit of rage” and threw a microphone that hit her in the face as she was dismantling lights after a Dec. 3, 2000, concert in Birmingham, Ala.

Paulson said she suffered a broken nose, two black eyes and a broken front tooth, and will require future plastic surgery.

Marley music on auction block

Kingston, Jamaica ” A reel-to-reel audiotape of Bob Marley playing with musician Jimmy Norman will be sold at auction next month in New York City, Christie’s auction house said.

Marley met Norman during a visit to Manhattan in early 1968. Eight songs they played together in Norman’s Bronx apartment are on the tape. Marley plays guitar and Norman plays piano. Marley’s wife, Rita, and Norman’s wife, Dorothy, sing backup.

The tape includes “I’m Hurting Inside,” a hit for The Wailers, the group Marley co-founded with Bunny Wailer.

Initial asking price for the tape, described as being in “fragile, but good playing condition” is $15,000.

Christie’s will auction the tape Dec. 20, along with other memorabilia such as items bearing the signatures of The Beatles and clothing worn by Elvis Presley in the movies “Speedway” and “Double Trouble,” she said.