Serendipity: Getting to double for your favorite actor

By Megan Thomas
CALL IT coincidence’ or serendipity but for Veracruz Canadian resident and artist Germain Courchesne, it could also be a reward for checking in daily to Panama’s most visited English news site.

When Courchene saw a notice in  Newsroom,  calling for extras for the upcoming movie “Hands of Stone”, about Panama’s legendary boxer, Roberto Duran, it revived treasured memories  The producers were looking for Canadians to appear in a fight-crowd scene when Duran defeated Sugar Ray Leonard in the Montreal Olympic Stadium on June 20 1980.

Courchesne called the Newsroom editor to let him know that not only was he Canadian, but a Montrealer, and had been part of the crowd that witnessed the fight.  But more importantly for him, Roberto De Niro  was starring in the movie as Duran’s 

famed trainer Rey Arcel, and De Niro was Courchesne’s all-time favorite actor. A chance to see the great one at work was not to be missed.

Newsroom passed the information on, and French speaking Courchesne applied, and was enroled as an extra.
But things got better. A member of the production team spotted the resemblance between Courchesne and De Niro and before you could swing a left hook, Courchesne was signed up as the star’s double.
During his  days on set with the stars of the movie, including Edgar Ramirez who has the title role of Duran,he also got to see the detail that goes into 

a film production to ensure authenticity, with a Hollywood advisor at hand to guide the actors in swinging punches in each fight scene, exactly as they were recorded at the time.

There had been an earlier De Niro link, when Courchesne’s son who was working in a Montreal hotel, had met the actor, whom he described as muy sympatico.
Courchesne’s previous acting experience was in the first CanadaPLUS Club, Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre, He took up painting when he moved to Veracruz, near Panama City and has had numerous exhibitions.
For the history books, the fight that Courchesne witnessed in 1980 had Leonard defending the WBC Welterweight Championship for the second time. Durán was the WBC #1 welterweight contender.
Leonard abandoned his usual slick boxing style and stood flat-footed with Durán. Leonard, angry with Durán over traded insults, wanted to beat Durán at his own game. The tactic resulted in a great fight but a losing effort. Durán won by decision. The scores were 147-147, 145-144, and 146-144. The bitter words between the two fighters, coupled with the close result, virtually guaranteed a rematch. Which became the celebrated “no mas” (no more) fight when Duran, in the 8th round, turned his back on Leonard, and said to the referee “no mas”, words that made his popularity plunge in Panama. He regained it later with more victories and is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest boxers.
Duran owns a Spanish style restaurant La Tasca De Duran on Calle Alberto Navarro where he may be found mingling with customers several nights a week. It is of course loaded with memorabilia and ongoing videos of some of his most memorable fights.
A celebrity site listed his current net worth as $3 million, but during his career he is reported to have blown away $20 million.
He is also a designated sports ambassador for Panama, and has a sports arena named after him. His statue stands near the foot of Via Argentina, near Via Espana.