THE SHANE OF IT ALL

Stant pleaded guilty to second-degree assault last month and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. After a couple of weeks in a Portland lockup, he was shipped out to a state prison in Salem, Oregon.

His fianc‚e, Leslie Thomas, still lives in Chandler, and when Stant gets out, he expects to return there and find a construction job, get married and have children. He's given up on his martial arts dreams.

"What I've been thinking lately is, 'What is the sense of it all?' I dedicated my life to something that, as far as society goes, doesn't have much use. I dedicated my whole life to training, and there's not much call for it to make money.

"A year and a half from now, and I get out, you won't hear from me. I'll grow my hair down to my shoulders. I'll grow a beard down to my belly. No one will even recognize me.

"What bothers me is I'll be the guy who attacked Nancy Kerrigan; that's what I'm going to be known for. Not for developing a new fighting style, helping people to have fun, being a good father. I'm going to be known as the hit man who hit Nancy Kerrigan.