It’s not everyday that a boxing movie gets a red-band trailer. Admittedly, the trailer for true-life sports drama Hands Of Stone shows Roberto Durán (Édgar Ramirez) going at it like a goddamn sexual tyrannosaurus. His opponent, Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher), isn’t far behind in the bedroom stakes. It’s a wonder they got any actual boxing done. If you’re 18 or older and not currently in a responsible workplace, check it out below.
This one has been in development for some time, originally with Gael Garcia Bernal as Roberto Durán and Al Pacino as his trainer, Ray Arcel. Now it’s Ramirez and Robert De Niro who’ll be pugilising against the great Sugar Ray.
Roberto ‘Hands of Stone’ Durán was – and is – a Panamanian national hero who’d been in the fight game since the age of 16. By the time he came up against Leonard in 1980, he was close to the peak of his powers. The rematch, however, ended in a famous controversy that this movie aims to unravel.
For more on the film, director Jonathan Jakubowicz has put together a behind-the-scenes featurette showing Usher and Ramirez's period glovework coming together.