You might recall during the flurry of boxing movies following in The Fighter's wake, one film that started to come together was Hands of Stone, a biopic on Panamanian boxing legend, Roberto "Stone Fists" Duran. Directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, Gael Garcia Bernal was set to play Duran with Al Pacino as his trainer, Ray Arcel. I haven't heard much about it since but the wheels are definitely spinning faster as the rest of the cast is starting to come together, and one surprise bit of casting for the role of Duran's greatest opponent.
Usher...yeah...the R&B singer....will play Sugar Ray Leonard according to the BBC. They had a pair of epic fights beginning in 1980, the first known as the Brawl in Montreal, in which Duran handed Leonard his first loss. The build up to the fight was especially contentious, as Duran hated the face he was making considerably less money than Leonard, even though his record was an amazing 70-1 at the time. They had a rematch later that same year, which Duran famously quit in the eighth round by telling the referee "No mas.".
Also joining are Ryan Kwanten(True Blood) and Michelle Rodriguez, with the former playing world lightweight champion, Ken Buchanan, one of the best fighters to ever hail from Scotland. Buchanan, even at the age of 66, still harbors thoughts of a rematch with the 60 year old Duran, who defeated him back in 1972. We'll have to wait and see if Pacino is still on board, as some reports are stating it'll be Robert De Niro instead.
I'll say this for Usher, he looks the part. And according to some things he's said on the role it looks like he's taking the opportunity seriously. He was last seen in the Justin Bieber concert flick, Never Say Never, and opposite Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher in Killers.
