To recreate Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime we began by casting someone with a similar physique, face structure and who could also move like a boxer. We then worked with a boxing coach to give us the realistic Sugar Ray action. Photographs of Sugar Ray’s face, supplemented with archival shots provided a basis and told us how much manipulation would be required. We filmed on a Phantom high-speed camera, at 200 FPS so we could show the fall in slow-motion. While a key aspect of the creative, this also posed huge problems. Lingering on every shot made the VFX doubly hard. Sugar Ray’s face and body was recreated pixel by pixel including details like the scar on his right arm. Sometimes possible in 2D, but at other times it required full 3D builds of his features. The ultimate approval lay with Sugar Ray Leonard himself – and his wife.