Great game with some small but bad drawbacks...
That said I am gonna rate this as a game...not as a boxing experience.
First off, it looks great on the Xbox even by todays standards...the boxers and all the effects that relate to them are well crafted and look pretty convincing...I found that I really enjoyed hammering guys on one side of the face just to see how much I could screw em up...the blood and gore is there, but it is tastefull.
The sound is good...well I should say that the sound effects are good and so is the announcer...the music is garbage in the worst way...I am not a fan of hip hop in any way shape or form and dislike not being able to play my own tracks of the Xbox hardrive (the reason I like the system...thanks EA!!!) The music is my big grouch...if you want to play boxing games you should have a choice of songs that add to the experience...not stuff you play in the club on a friday night!
The gameplay is top notch...the controls are intuitive and very smooth once you get used to them...the downside is that if you have freinds who want to take you on...they had better have some playtime before hand...it kinda sucks that people who don't own this game are put into a situation where they can't get how to punch and block....so you will need to be a good teacher and be patient.
The replay value is okay...not the greatest but it is worth holding on to the game...you never know when you see a fight on TV and want to slug it out in the game afterword...I know that I wanted to beat the crap out of my "local Champ" jermain taylor due to my living in Little rock...he aint so tough compared to my fighter!
Great game...but the craptacular music is a big let down...Please EA...let us play with our own music..you know...stuff with quality and substance...nto glam and bling!
that is all.
Mike