Pacquiao to pump fists with Obama

King of the ring-turned-politician Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao would have the rare chance to meet and pump fists with US President Barack Obama next month, according to prolific boxing scribe Michael Marley of The Examiner.

In an article he posted in Examiner.com and picked up by Philippine boxing portal Philboxing.com, Marley suggested that a meeting between Pacquiao and Obama in mid-February would be arranged by Senate Majority leader Harry Reid during the Washington, D.C., stop of the Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley press tour.

It all depends, of course, if the White House would be able to squeeze no more than a few minutes of “grip and grin” photo opportunity into Obama’s hectic schedule.

Marley said that a meeting with the American president would be Reid’s best way of returning Pacquiao’s gesture of leaving training camp just before his recent fight against Antonio Margarito in November to pitch for the former amateur boxer.

Pacquiao was flown by private jet from his training camp at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood by his promoter Bob Arum for the 30-minute flight to Las Vegas during a crucial public campaign in Sin City.

“Arum did inform me about 10 days ago that Reid would host Pacquiao and maybe also Mosley at a top D.C. restaurant during the media road trip,” Marley wrote. “But you know Arum would love to get his Manny into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue [the White House’s address] if he and Reid can.”

According to Marley, Pacquiao would have an easy time connecting with President Obama, who loves basketball just like PacMan.

“Manny went to bat for Harry in a big way, at the urging of Bob, and now an appreciative Harry can deliver something important to PacMan—a meeting with President Obama,” he said.

Pacquiao, the representative of Sarangani province in Congress who has made no secret about his ambitions to become President of the Philippines, seems comfortable rubbing elbows with top American politicians.

Days before his big fight against British welterweight star Ricky Hatton on May 1, 2009, Pacquiao had a brief meeting with two-term US President Bill Clinton at a Mandalay Bay Casino Hotel restaurant in Las Vegas.

“A great thing happened to me on Wednesday. I got a chance to meet former US President Bill Clinton. He is a great man and it was an honor for me to meet him. He was eating at Mandalay Bay and wanted a chance to meet me,” Pacquiao wrote in his Yahoo Sports blog then.

“He’s a big boxing fan. We talked a lot about boxing. He asked about my fights and he told one of my trainers, Michael Moorer, that he watched his heavyweight championship fight with Evander Holyfield many years ago.

“He also told me that he went to college with President Arroyo,” the Filipino boxing icon said, referring to former President Gloria Arroyo, who, like Clinton, attended Georgetown University.

By Jun Medina