Movies - TV
John Wick 4: Donnie Yen's Sugar Ray Leonard Reference Cracked Up the Whole Set
By JEREMY SMITH
One fight scene in “John Wick 4” sees Donnie Yen throwing a distinctive wind-up punch, which director Chad Stahelski revealed was an homage to an iconic boxer.
The filmmaker said, “That's all Donnie, a Sugar Ray Leonard reference. He's a huge Sugar Ray Leonard fan; he's put that in ‘Flashpoint,’ and he's put that in a lot of his films.”
When Sugar Ray Leonard fought Roberto Duran in a 1980 boxing match, he wound up his right arm and repeatedly punched Duran’s face, Popeye-style.
Yen included a Leonard-inspired “Ip Man” punch in the film as well. According to Stahelski, Yen told him, “I'm going to do an Ip Man [...] a straight blast and speed punch.”
Stahelski added, “I'm like, ‘All right, do it, let's shoot it, let's see if we like it.’ And he shoots it, and everybody behind the camera starts laughing. He's so f*****g fast.”