Usher Impressed Sugar Ray Leonard In "Hands Of Stone"

Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard was knocked out by singer Usher Raymond, who plays him in the new film, “Hands of Stone.”

“When I first heard that Usher was portraying me I thought it was a joke,” the 60-year-old former champ told us at the film’s SVA Theater premiere.

Much like boxing critics didn’t think Leonard could beat Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran in their 1980 rematch, Leonard wasn’t sure that Usher could hold his own in the ring.

“I just didn't feel like it would happen, I didn’t see Usher being me and then when Usher called me and said, ‘Ray can you help me be you?’ (Leonard said) ‘Well we’ll try.’”

The “No Limit” singer did more than just try.

“I worked with him for a number of months and when I saw him jumping rope and hitting the speed bag, the movement, and although I knew he was a great dancer, it takes a certain rhythm to be a fighter, a certain mentality to be a fighter,” Leonard said. “He impressed the hell out of me.”

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