Boxer Pacquiao to cover Dan Hill ballad

Following in the footsteps of other athletes who've dabbled in music, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is set to release his first recording, but with a significant authority in his corner: theoriginal singer.

The Filipino boxer will release his cover of Dan Hill's 1977 ballad Sometimes When We Touch on April 28.

The recording, which features the Canadian singer-songwriter harmonizing with Pacquiao, will emerge about a week ahead of his next fight: a May 7 bout in Las Vegas, where he will defend his welterweight title against American boxer Shane Mosley.

"I saw Manny and heard Manny sing it on [Jimmy Kimmel Live] and I really loved the way he sang it," Hill says in an online video about their collaboration, which took advantage of the original production team who worked onthe chart-topping hit.

"I was immediately drawn to the honesty and the gentleness of his performance. It was like, 'Whoa,' " Hill said.

The 32-year-old boxer described the often-covered song as a favourite ballad that he "always listened to."

Producers praised the amateur singer's stamina he laid down his vocals after a day of training and sparring as well as his dedication to the recording process.

"His singing has that wonderful Filipino sensibility about music... it's always about the feeling and the heart," producer Matthew McCauley says in the online video. "He's got great pitch and a lovely sincerity."

Pacquiao is slated to return to Kimmel's late night show on April 28 to debut his cover.

Over the years, many high-profile athletes have ventured into music, including former NHLers Theo Fleury (who unveiled a country song he wrote during his 2010 run on Battle of the Blades ) and Guy Lafleur (who put out a disco album in 1979), basketball star and sometime rapper Shaquille O'Neal and fellow boxer Oscar De la Hoya, whose self-titled 2000 album was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards.