EDMONTON — Tonya Harding's new career as a boxer took a severe beating Friday, along with her face, as she was knocked out by a relatively unknown Alberta boxer.

Boxing fans booed the self-styled spitfire shrew of U.S. sports when she entered the ring and leapt to their feet cheering as she was pummeled brutally by 22-year-old Amy Johnson from Edmonton.

Harding, 33, of Portland, Ore., was hoping to use Friday's bout as a launching pad for a big money title fight after trading in her figure skates for boxing gloves two years ago.

But that dream took a bruising in round three when she was pushed up against the ropes by Johnson and punched repeatedly in the face.

"You name it, she threw it," said a weary Harding after the fight. "She threw a lot more than I anticipated and, you know, it was her night.

"She got the one opportunity to fight Tonya Harding and of course that gives you that extra energy and everything else...let her have that 15 minutes of fame."

Johnson was awarded a technical knockout when the referee stopped the bout at 1:04 of the third round.

In a crush of boxing fans eager for autographs, Johnson said she's happy that she'll always be the Edmonton woman who beat Tonya Harding.

"This is my first knockout," said Johnson. "I felt so much stronger than she was. I just felt like going in, like it's my town, my time to shine."

Before the bout, which she was paid $25,000 to fight in, Harding had said she hoped to exploit her bad-girl image in the ring.

"People made money off the bad-girl image and now it's my turn," said Harding, who goes by the name America's Bad Girl in the ring.

"I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to pay my bills and that'll last for a couple months at a time and things like that."

Harding had hoped to win a date with Serbian-born Canadian boxer Jelana Mrdjenovich in a pay-per-view event that could have netted her as much as $600,000, said boxing promoter Wayne Barry.

"She's taking this career seriously and there's a lot of money down the line for Tonya if she continues to win," said Barry, the man behind Friday's event, dubbed Law and Order, at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Despite a blackened left eye and swollen nose, Harding said she is not going to back down from that dream.

"It's been almost a complete year since I fought and I went out and I've shown that I do have some skills," said Harding. "I just need some more bouts to get under my belt."

A title belt on the wall could mean a clean break with the sport that made Harding famous.

She fell from glory during the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, after her former husband hired a hitman to club rival skater Nancy Kerrigan on the knee.

Harding says she didn't know of the attack before it occurred, but she pleaded guilty in 1998 to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. She was fined $160,000 and sentenced to 500 hours of community service.

She was later stripped of her 1994 national championship and banished for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

Six years later Harding found herself back in the spotlight in an exploitative TV celebrity boxing match in which she clobbered Paula Jones.

Since then, Harding has boxed in five professional matches, compiling three wins and two losses.

Some of her critics, however, say that no matter the accomplishments, a freak show is still a freak show.

Her bout was just one in the seven-match event that boxer Jason (The Troll) Adams had said could turn into a "circus act."

Adams, who fought for the WBC Continental Americas super-bantam-weight championship, said Harding is mocking his sport.

"All the media has been talking about is Tonya Harding, Tonya Harding, Tonya Harding," said Adams.

"I'm the real athlete. I'm the guy that's been doing it for 12 years. I'm the guy fighting for the title."

Before the match, Harding contended she was serious about her new sport.

"People look at me and they think, `Oh, she's just using her name' and things like that," she said. "I may use my name to a point, but on the other hand I'm trying to prove that I'm a boxer and I do have skill."

She vowed her commitment is real -- in the days before the fight she avoided food and water to squeeze into the 135-pound weight class -- and that the payoff is not in cash but in credibility.

"I was the best skater out there. Now I want to be one of the best women boxers in whatever scale I'm going to be fighting at.