Well over three years in the making, “Hands of Stone,” the biopic on the life and legendary career of the one and only Roberto Duran, finally gets released in the U.S this August, on the 26th. The film – written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and starring Robert De Niro as Duran trainer Ray Arcel and Edgar Ramirez as the Panamanian warrior – was filmed on location in both New York and Panama.
Also starring Usher Raymond, as Sugar Ray Leonard and Ruben Blades as Duran’s main man, Carlos Eleta, the film will also have portrayals of infamous mob guy Frankie Carbo and another boxing legend in Angelo Dundee.
Set to cover the early life of the street hoodlum all the way to his unforgettable “No Mas” fight with Sugar Ray Leonard, the flick is highly anticipated by fight fans. De Niro, who will be appearing in his fourth boxing related movie – the other three being “Raging Bull,” “Night and The City” and “Grudge Match” – shaved his head to play the part of the ageing yet brilliant trainer.
Hardcore Duran fans known just about all there is to know about the man many call the finest lightweight in the history of boxing. Duran of course won world titles at lightweight, welterweight, light-middleweight and middleweight – beating the likes of Ken Buchanan, Leonard, Davey Moore and Iran Barkley in a career that saw Roberto fight as a pro in no less than five seperate decades. It will be interesting to see if any new nuggets from Duran’s incredible life have been unearthed for the new film.
Expect a good portion of the film to be dedicated to the “No Mas” fight. But also, hopefully, Duran’s other, more glorious ring encounters will get the treatment they deserve.
Fight fans might be pleased to know how former real life middleweight contender John Duddy will play Scotland’s former lightweight king Buchanan, the man Duran famously hit low to take his first world title back in June of 1972. It will be interesting to see how much the film focuses on this also unforgettable fight, and how the movie deals with that controversy.