ARUM CONFIDENT OF PACQUIAO-OBAMA MEETING / DOHA: NADAL VS FEDERER
[PHOTO - Pacquiao is no stranger to US politics, having endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada last year.]
MANILA, JANUARY 8, 2011 (BULLETIN) By the time the five-city promotional tour for the May 7 bout between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley hit Washington, D.C., in the second week of February, the Filipino might end up rubbing elbows with US President Barack Obama.
From Las Vegas, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Bulletin on Friday as he was waiting for a flight to Los Angeles that he will try to arrange such a meeting.
"It would all depend on the availability of the President," said Arum, who nevertheless, revealed that Pacquiao, a congressman from Sarangani, will be presented to the US Senate.
Pacquiao is no stranger to US politics, having endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada last year, and in 2009, just a few days before facing British Ricky Hatton, the Filipino pound-for-pound king met with ex-US President Bill Clinton at the Four Seasons Hotel inside Mandalay Bay.
Arum, whose promotional outfit Top Rank is based in Las Vegas, is a dear friend of Reid, who used to box as an amateur.
Arum said the press tour will kick off on Feb. 9 when a news conference is held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles
followed by stops in Las Vegas, New York, Washington and San Francisco.
"It's going to be absolutely huge (if the meeting between Obama and Pacquiao takes place)," Arum said.
Both Obama and Reid are members of the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, tickets for the Pacquiao-Mosley welterweight war at the MGM Grand will go on sale on January 31, said Arum.
Tickets are priced at $1,000, $700, $500, $350 and $150
Nadal, Federer clash loomsJanuary 7, 2011, 5:24pm
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer remain on course to meet in the Qatar Open final after both won their quarterfinals in straight sets on Thursday.
Federer, a two-time champion in Doha, routed sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2 in just 65 minutes and will face third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals.
Top-ranked Nadal was given more of a test by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis before he came through 7-6 (3), 6-3.
"It is always a difficult match against him," Nadal said. "You have to play special against him. I did my best today and I am happy about it.
"I pushed him hard and broke him many times. I am playing well. My target here is to win (the title)."
Nadal plays defending champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia or Ivo Karlovic of Croatia on Friday.
The Spaniard broke Gulbis in the fourth game of the first set and though Gulbis broke back, the 22-year-old Latvian could not maintain his form in the tiebreaker and Nadal won four points in a row to take it.
On Wednesday, Nadal dropped the second set 6-0 against Lukas Lacko after taking the first on a tiebreaker, but there was no repeat against Gulbis and he broke twice more to win inside two hours.
Federer, who won the title in 2005 and 2006, had little trouble improving his win-loss record at the tournament to 21-3
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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