{"id":17533,"date":"2016-08-22T14:05:29","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T19:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=17533"},"modified":"2016-08-22T14:05:29","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T19:05:29","slug":"edgar-ramirez-trained-in-panama-to-get-a-feel-for-boxing-champs-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/edgar-ramirez-trained-in-panama-to-get-a-feel-for-boxing-champs-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Edgar Ramirez trained in Panama to get a feel for boxing champ\u2019s world"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Edgar Ramirez found the role of Panamanian boxing legend Roberto Duran a life-changing one.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s \u201cHands of Stone\u201d chronicles the incredible saga of the welterweight champ, rated among the greatest boxers of all time, who, thanks to his trainer Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro), defeated Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) for the championship.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u201chands of stone\u201d for his powerful punches, Duran was born into poverty, never finished school and couldn\u2019t read, yet ultimately became a national hero.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of Roberto Duran is the story of everyone who has ever struggled to become someone and then suddenly is under the pressure of being somebody,\u201d the multilingual Venezuelan actor (\u201cJoy,\u201d \u201cPoint Break\u201d) said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the key to understanding this guy was a physical transformation. There was no way to even attempt to build a character without becoming a boxer myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot \u2018act\u2019 it; you have to become it. So I moved to Panama, because there was no way for me to access Roberto\u2019s state of mind, his soul, without understanding the degradation, the sacrifices and the struggle, the pressure a boxer has to go through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually trained in a very \u2018underground\u2019 gym that is located in the less privileged areas of Panama in order to get as close to the reality that Duran grew up in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole process,\u201d Ramirez, 39, added, \u201cwas probably a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duran, 65, was there daily, \u201csupervising everything I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoberto embodies the spirit of Panama. His saga as a boxer has a lot to do with a sense of emancipation (from American rule) for his people. And you cannot understand that in L.A. or New York or even Caracas.\u201d<\/p>\n