Dan Hill and Manny Pacquiao connect -- Metro Canada

By NEIL DAVIDSON, The Canadian Press

Syrup meets steel might be the simple tag line, but it wouldn't do justice to the unlikely partnership of Canadian singer Dan Hill and boxing star Manny Pacquiao.

As Pacquiao prepares to take on Shane Mosley on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Hill has found himself in his musical corner.

Thanks to the ballad "Sometimes When We Touch," the 56-year-old Hill and 32-year-old Pacquiao have become singing partners and firm friends.

In Hill's words, they've connected.

The boxing champion and Filipino congressman is also a crooner and Hill's 1977 hit remains his favourite. Hill was stunned in November 2009 to see Pacquiao sing his song on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

The two camps eventually touched base and the singer and boxer found themselves in a Hollywood studio last October.

Their new version of the song will be out in Canada in various forms at the end of the month — it's been released in many countries already.

There are a half-dozen versions of the song, including dance remakes and a reworking by Toronto producer Boi-1da, a four-minute video of Hill and Pacquiao singing and a half-hour DVD documenting how they got together.

As the spotlight has swung on Pacquiao (52-3-2) in the leadup to his fight, the eight-time world champion has been bringing up Hill and their song.

This week he even started singing in at the pre-fight news conference, with Hill in the audience.

"And then I sang it back at him," Hill said with a giggle.

Media converged on the singer like sharks to chum. There will doubtless be more on hand when the two do a post-fight rendition of "Sometimes When We Touch" at the Mandalay Bay on Saturday night.

Hill, who has been around the musical block a few times, credits journalist-friend Stephen Brunt for the phrasing when he calls it "the most strange and wonderful experience I've ever had in the music business."

He says he's enjoying the ride, but not taking it too seriously.

But he likes the Pacquiao version of his song.

"Because of its hyper-emotionality, you have to be really careful of how you sing it," Hill explained. "If you over-sing it, it's just going to sound like a four-minute soap opera.

"And so what I like about the way Manny sings it is he under-sings it. He doesn't over-sing it. To me pop singing is all about believability. Do you believe what the singer is singing? Is it striking a chord of honesty? And I believe when Manny's singing that song, he totally believes everything that he sang. He sings it earnestly ... and with almost an innocence and a conviction that I find really moving."

Hill says he has grown to respect and admire Pacquiao, marvelling at someone who took up boxing at age 14 to feed his family.

Now a congressman back home in the Philippines, Pacquiao is fighting hunger for his countrymen.

"What I feel is happening with Manny is now he looks at his country as his family and he feels like he has to take care of his country, which is his family. So I think in his mind now he's doing the same thing now as he was doing at 14."

Hill also is amazed at how Pacquiao can focus, noting that the boxer was able to separate himself from the large entourage in the studio when they recorded the song.

"Manny's looking at me and there's no one else in the room," Hill said admiringly. "He is hyper-focused just as he is as a boxer."

Hill knows his signature song — written at 19 to impress a woman who apparently wanted a smorgasbord of men rather than a diet of just Hill (she eventually left him to go south with a pro football player) — evokes a wide range of emotions.

But that aside, he says the song — co-written with Barry Mann —"opened me up to the world.

"It opened me up to write for Celine Dion, it opened me up to write for George Benson, it opened me up to write for Britney Spears, for Backstreet Boys, for Reba McEntire, for Alan Jackson.

"As you know in any business, especially the music business, it's hard to get inside, (it's) very exclusive. That song was my ticket. It opened all the doors for me."

Added Hill: "I could write hit songs until the cows come home and no one's ever going to think of anything except 'Sometimes When We Touch.' But that doesn't bother me, because I know that I can write books, I can write articles, I can write songs.

"That's just the way it is. I'm never going to have another hit that big because I'm going to be 57 in June and there aren't too many 57-year-olds banging out hit songs, muscling out Justin Bieber on the pop charts."

Hill says the song has had five million plays in North America since its 1977 release. A normal hit gets a million plays in the U.S., he says.

He estimates there have been "thousands not hundreds" of covers.

"The song is a phenomenon unto itself, it's an industry unto itself," he said matter-of-factly. "A day doesn't go by that someone doesn't want to use it in a new movie — like 'Tropic Thunder' where it was used — or in a commercial or in a TV show — it's been used on 'The Simpsons,' it's been used on 'That 70's Show — it is just a force unto itself.

"I don't feel like it's mine anymore. It's just this other thing."

And now it's part of Manny's thing.

He's not the first boxer to like it. (Smokin') Joe Frazier recorded a version because he liked the line: "I'm just another writer, still trapped within my truth, a hesitant prize fighter, still trapped within my youth."

"A lot of boxers have cut that song," Hill said.

But Pacquiao fell in love with the song, not the line.

Others who have covered "Sometimes When We Touch" include Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Tammy Wynette, Lynne Anderson, Donny Osmond, Rodney Crowell and Roseanne Cash.

Hill, who is doing his own show Friday night at the Boulder Station Hotel and Casino in Vegas, says he won't be at Saturday's boxing card even though he has two "perfect" tickets.

"Although I know he's a brilliant boxer, I really feel like he's my friend. And I don't think too many of us would like to see our friends in a boxing match."

For Hill, it's just another wondrous stop on his musical journey.

"I have met the most extraordinary, brilliant ... and yet it seems like the more brilliant they are, the more humble they are."

After Vegas, Hill returns to Toronto for a May 14 show at Koerner Hall. The Bluebird North Toronto All-Star Concert also features Jane Siberry, Suzie McNeil, Melanie Doane and Marc Jordan.

Source: metronews.ca

Manny Pacquiao a Fan of Jon Jones, BJ Penn and Bruce Lee -- 5thRound

By Tom Ngo, 5thRound.com

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre starred in the biggest mixed martial arts show to ever hit North America this past weekend. This Saturday, it will be Manny Pacquiao’s turn to take center stage and entertain fight fans.

So why is an MMA news website writing about ‘the other’ combat sport, you ask? Well, it appears Pacquiao is finally starting to become a fan of badass barefoot action.

Although he and St-Pierre have shared gym time while training under Freddie Roach’s watchful eye, Pacquiao mentioned future UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn and current UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones as his two favorite mixed martial artists.

“Pac-Man” has appreciated Penn’s ability as a lighter weight fighter to successfully hop divisions to capture titles, while he agrees with the rest of the world that there is something a little bit more special about the man they call “Bones.”

“I love his athleticism and the way he conducts himself,” Pacquiao told 5thRound of Jones.

Pacquiao also expressed great admiration for Bruce Lee. UFC president Dana White has long-considered him as “The Godfather of MMA” because Lee was preaching the importance of learning multiple disciplines long before the UFC became a gleam in Rorion Gracie’s eyes.

Shane Mosley challenges Pacquiao for his WBO welterweight belt tomorrow night inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Don’t forget to check out their official MySpace pages (Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and “Sugar” Shane Mosley) for exclusive content leading up to Saturday’s pay-per-view broadcast. The social media giant is also offering up “Manny Pacquiao Myspace Hijack,” where fans can learn more about Pacquiao’s favorite music, movies and interests.

Fanboys can also enter for a chance to win a pair of signed gloves from the Pac-Man himself.

Source: 5thround.com

Manny Pacquiao never forgets -- Boston Herald

By Ron Borges, Boston Herald

LAS VEGAS — At a time when many athletes seem to run from the very idea of being a role model, Manny Pacquiao fights for those who can’t.

Tomorrow night, the most popular fighter in the world will wear yellow gloves when he enters the ring at the MGM Grand to face Shane Mosley, not because someone paid him to, but because he hopes some kid will eat because he did. Although he has become a fistic and financial phenomenon who will earn a guaranteed $20 million for facing Mosley, Pacquiao has not forgotten the most basic of things. He has not forgotten what it felt like to be a boy alone in the streets with an empty stomach and nothing to fill it but a jug of water and a dream.

“All my life, I’ve had to fight,” the reigning WBO welterweight champion said before what is potentially the biggest pay-per-view event of his career. “As a child I had to fight just to eat. Now when I fight, the Filipinos call me a hero. I think the world needs more heroes.

“I believe the biggest fight of my life is not in boxing. The biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country. I will be wearing yellow gloves into the ring as a symbol of unity in the fight against poverty.”

Pacquiao grew up scavenging in the streets of first General Santos City and later Manila, a boy who left home on a boat because he knew his mother could no longer afford to feed all the mouths in her household. He came to Manila to work with his hands, but his hands were blessed with the kind of concussive power that can render someone unconscious or at least willing to sacrifice their dignity and concede defeat rather than eat those fists any longer. Even when his stomach was empty, his hands were loaded.

Now 32, Pacquiao has won world championships in six weight classes from flyweight to junior middleweight, although his promoters claim he is a seven-time champion by adding the featherweight title to his resume even though he never won a sanctioned championship at 126 pounds and certainly doesn’t need it to enhance his reputation.

Although it carries with it no sanction, Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO) is also considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, a mythical title signifying nothing but people’s opinion yet something fighters respect mightily for it means if all things were equal — which they seldom are in boxing or in life — he would be the most dangerous man in the world.

For most of us, that would be more than enough titles, but for Pacquiao boxing has only been the beginning. He is now a singer with a new single out, stars in a popular Filipino TV show, is a pitch man for everything from perfume to laptops and, most importantly, was elected a congressman in the Philippines last year, a title he takes as seriously as the one he is set to defend.

With success like this has come riches beyond any dreams Pacquiao had during long nights when his stomach growled, but they did not arrive unencumbered. They came with long tentacles, ones that might envelop some men but seem only to hold Pacquiao in a light and loving embrace.

“People, they are always expecting a lot from me,” Pacquiao admits. “There’s pressure, but I can handle that. I started from nothing and now I have something. So I give.”

When Pacquiao fights, his country stops. Police in Manila claim even crime takes a holiday the night of a Pacquiao fight. He is mobbed wherever he goes, but is not bothered by this. It is simply the life God has given him.

“Manny thrives on chaos,” says his publicist, Fred Sternberg, “maybe because he causes it. He isn’t the result of it.”

Pacquiao understands why this is so and feels the weight of it, a nation’s self-esteem riding on his slight shoulders. But he runs from none of its responsibilities. Instead, he puts on yellow gloves to remind those watching that hungry people are out there still. People who need help from a fighter but also from everyone whose belly is full.

The kind of grinding poverty Manny Pacquiao once knew was not erased by the erasure of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos or his own elevation, either as a fighter or a politician, and so he fights on for himself and for a people he believes have become his responsibility.

“When I started fighting professionally, every time I saw poor people sleeping in the streets, it made me think that one day I hoped I could help them,” Pacquiao said.

“It will make my heart happy to see yellow colors in the crowd. It will be a beautiful and special thing for everyone to unite in this way, with boxing, and hope and charity. It will be like everyone is supporting a team.”

Source: bostonherald.com