Pacman to meet Hillary

BEVERLY HILLS – The next time Manny Pacquiao flies to the United States, sometime in February, he may have something else on his agenda other than his April 9 fight with Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum told Filipino scribes Tuesday he’s arranging a meeting between the retiring Filipino boxer and former US senator Hillary Clinton somewhere in Nevada.

Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state, is running for president of the United States in the Nov. 8 elections. She’s a Democrat, like the legendary boxing promoter.

“She’s my candidate. I like her,” said Arum at the Beverly Hills Hotel where he shared a table with Filipino sportswriters here to cover the Pacquiao vs Bradley press tour.

“Manny will come back in the middle of February. And Hillary will be in Nevada for a caucus. That’s when I’m arranging a meeting between the two,” Arum said.

Pacquiao, a two-term congressman in Sarangani, is running for senator in the May 9 Philippine elections. In the past, he has rubbed elbows with top US politicians.

In 2011, he paid a courtesy call on President Barack Obama at the White House. During the same visit, he dropped by the US Capitol and met Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.

Asked if Pacquiao would end up endorsing Clinton’s candidacy, Arum said he might.

“That’s up to him,” said Arum.

Under US laws, a foreign national, like Pacquiao, is not barred from endorsing or campaigning for any candidate for any position in the US government.

“In the Philippines I can’t campaign for Manny. I know because when I was there when he ran for Congress in 2010 I was only there to observe,” said the Harvard lawyer.

Pacquiao will soon begin training for the Bradley fight, and while he waits, he will prepare his final battle plan for the May elections.

Like Clinton, he’s doing well in the surveys.