GRAMMY AWARD WINNING SINGER, SONGWRITER DAN HILL WANTS TO DO A RECORDING WITH PACQUIAO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 07 Jun 2010
Grammy and Juno award winning singer and songwriter Dan Hill who was responsible for the hit song ?Sometimes When We Touch? met with pound-for-pound king ?Fighter of the Decade? and sometime singer/actor Manny Pacquiao on Friday at his hotel in New York.
Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz told us that Hill presented Pacquiao with a new album that they just finished and discussed Hill?s plan to ?re-do the song and have Manny sing with him.?
Koncz said Pacquiao was ?very excited about recording the hit song together with them.?
Pacquiao sang the hit during his last appearance on the popular ABC late night show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and received an ovation from the studio audience.
Hill was accompanied to the meeting with Pacquiao by two of his friends who are record producers. Koncz said ?they are very nice people and spent maybe an hour with Manny.?
Later in the evening Hill sat at the table of Pacquiao when he received the awards at the gala dinner of the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America headed by respected journalist Jack Hirsch. Pacquiao was a hit at the dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York and by all accounts including those from members of the BWAA Pacquiao delivered an emotional speech very well.
In his speech before a large crowd including some Filipinos, Pacquiao recalled how poverty confronted his family and challenged his youth but stated ?I was pressured but not crushed? pointing out that in his struggles he ?combated poverty with boxing gloves.?
Known for his religiosity Pacquiao said he ?trusted God and dreamed big? even as he learned from his mistakes.
He said he was overflowing with joy and gratitude and was thankful that like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier who presented the ?Fighter of the Year? award to Pacquiao he decided to get into boxing and decided ?not to give up, never to give up.?In conclusion Pacquiao said he decided to trust God.
He added ?God formed my destiny. He formed me from nothing into something. He knows everything about me.?
Addressing Filipinos around the world Pacquiao repeated what he has often stressed before ?to my countrymen around the world you are my strength? even as he emphasized ?I am proud to be a Filipino.?
Pacquiao indicated that ?all the sacrifices have been beneficial and rewarding? adding ?we all desire to be good and leave a legacy.?
Pacquiao concluded his remarks by saying ?we are all destined for greatness. Greatness lies not in strength but the use of strength.?
The remarkable fighter who has set a record by winning seven world titles in seven weight divisions joined Ali and four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield as the only three-time winners of the Sugar Ray Robinson ?Fighter of the Year? award.
In being given the supreme accolade of the ?Fighter of the Decade? in which he out-polled Floyd Mayweather Jr by a margin of 2-to-1, Pacquiao who received the award from Jack Hirsch, president of the Boxing Writers Association of America joined Sugar Ray Robinson, Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roy Jones Jr who were regarded as the best boxers in their decades.
Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz said it was ?tremendous? and that there was a point in the gala dinner where fighters, journalists and fans who crowded around Pacquiao to take pictures and get his autograph were requested to take their seats so the awards ceremony could go on.
Seated at Pacquiao?s table were his charming wife Jinkee, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, Fernando Beltran, the executive producer of Mexico?s Azteca TV network, CBS 60 Minutes host Bob Simmons, Roger Fernandez, Koncz and his son Oscar. Pacquiao and his family leave for a vacation in Mexico as guest of promoter Fernando Beltran Monday, Manila Time.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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