"U Got It Bad" star Usher has revealed that he accepted the role of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in the new biopic "Hands Of Stone" under one very specific condition. 

During an interview with America's Today Show, the R&B hitmaker explained that he was excited about the project when he was first brought into discussions, but wanted to get permission from the man he would be playing before committing himself:

"I didn't wanna accept it without Sugar Ray's permission, so I reached out to him. He's an American icon, an Olympic medallist, and world decorated and celebrated."

Usher went onto explain that training and conditioning himself in preparation for the role was challenging: "I had to lose weight, I had to change my eating habits, I ate to my blood type, and I worked out three times a day sometimes. I had a trainer in Atlanta... I worked out at (a) gym... in Brooklyn, in Philly (Philadelphia), but I didn't prepare like it was an acting role, I prepared like I was a boxer."

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Watch a featurette about the film below: