Usher will play Sugar Ray Leonard in ‘Hands of Stone’

Hands of Stone is a boxing biopic about Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán and Usher Raymond joins as Sugar Ray Leonard.

According to Shadow and Act, Usher will be starring opposite Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez in the film. Hands of Stone is a story that will center primarily on Durán (played by Edgar Ramirez) and his trainer. The film will be directed Jonathan Jakubowicz.

He is a Venezuelan director that gained international recognition after he wrote and directed Secuestro express. The film is about one young couple's ordeal as they journey through the underworld of Caracas in the hands of three thugs who have made them their latest payday.

De Niro will play Duran's Hall of Fame trainer, Ray Arcel. The film will feature Panamanian veteran actors and will be shot entirely in that country. Usher said to the AP, that the role will require his dancing skills to be convincing in the film.

The boxing rivalry between Leonard and Durán was legendary. The rivalry hits its climax in the "Brawl in Montreal”. Finally a film of that rivalry will come to the big screen.

Filming begins this fall in Panama.