Arum's son is missing in Seattle

MANILA, Philippines - The three-stop press tour for the Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito will go in the absence of chief promoter Bob Arum whose 48-year-old son, John Arum, had reportedly gone missing while hiking somewhere in Seattle.

The tour’s kick-off leg was about to start at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles when the president of Top Rank Promotions was informed that his son, a lawyer like him, had been missing since he went hiking last Sunday.

Arum had to leave the press conference, and catch a flight to Seattle, according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. He was the first to report about the incident.

The younger Arum, according to a report, had gone on a hiking expedition in the mountains of Seattle, and may have lost contact with any of his companions, family and friends since Sunday evening.

“They’ve got search parties looking for him right now,” Arum told the LA Times.

However, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports yesterday reported that public information office for the Seattle Police Department had no record of any missing person named John Arum as of presstime, and no search is being conducted yet.

Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Office said the law requires a sheriff’s office to notify a search and rescue clearinghouse before the effort should begin.

“It does not appear to be a lost hiker at this point, from everything we can deduce,” Urquhart told Yahoo! Sports.

From Los Angeles, the press tour takes both Pacquiao and Margarito to New York today and in Dallas on Friday. It’s a whirlwind tour, considering the availability of time.

There’s only a little over two months left before the Nov. 13 fight scheduled at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and both camps need at least seven to eight weeks to train for the fight.

Tickets for the fight, for the vacant WBC super-welterweight crown (with a catchweight of 151 lb) will go on sale starting on Sept. 18. Tickets are priced at $700, $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50.

Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Cowboys Stadium ticket office in Arlington, or online at www.ticketmaster.com