''Knockout Kings 2001'' is a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by EA Sports. The third installment in the ''

Knockout Kings ''Knockout Kings'' is a series of boxing video games produced by EA Sports for various platforms yearly between 1998 and 2003. Before releasing the first ''Knockout Kings'', Electronic Arts released its first 3D boxing game, '' Foes of Ali'', fo ...

'' series, the game was released for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

on October 31, 2000, and later for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

on February 5, 2001.

Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...

and

Shane Mosley Shane Mosley (born September 7, 1971), often known by his nickname "Sugar" Shane Mosley, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2016. He held multiple triple champion, world championships in three weight classes, incl ...

appear on the North American cover, while the European cover features

Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a former professional boxer and boxing commentator who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the last heavyweight to hold ...

Gameplay

''Knockout Kings 2001'' features a roster of 40 boxers, increased from the 25 featured in '' Knockout Kings 2000''. Alongside retired boxers like

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

and Sugar Ray Leonard, the game also featured contemporary boxers like

and

. It is the only game in the series to feature female boxers, which included

Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional women's boxing, boxer and former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion in the super welterweight division. She is also the IBA and IFBA lightweight champion. She is also a model, ...

, Christy Martin,

Lucia Rijker Lucia Frederica Rijker (; born December 6, 1967) is a Dutch professional boxer, kickboxer, and actress. Rijker was sometimes dubbed by the press "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World". Early career Rijker speaks four languages and is a Budd ...

, and Regina Halmich. Commentary during in-game matches was provided by

Al Bernstein Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker. Journalism career In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago. He eventually be ...

, Max Kellerman and Teddy Atlas, while Mills Lane and

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in Du ...

were featured as the referees.

Jimmy Lennon Jr. Jimmy Lennon Jr. (born August 5, 1958) is an American boxing ring announcer who is employed primarily by Showtime (TV network), Showtime and Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports as ring announcer for their ''Showtime Championship Boxing'' and P ...

was featured as the ring announcer. In the European version, the commentary was instead provided by

Harry Carpenter Harry Leonard Carpenter, OBE (17 October 1925 – 20 March 2010) was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing. He was presenter of programmes such as ''Sportsnig ...

, Barry McGuigan and Ian Darke. The ability for the player to create their own character was retained from the previous game. Alongside standard moves such as jabs, uppercuts, and roundhouse punches, the player can also perform "dirty" moves against opponents including low punches, elbows and head butts.

Reception

The game received positive reviews from critics. John Gaudiosi of ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' said that while the PlayStation version was "a good boxing game, it's still not as good as it could be. Also, if you played ''KK2000'', you won't find much of a difference." Rob Smolka of the same magazine later said of the PS2 version, "Honoring the strategy of boxing as much as the ferocity, this should enthrall fans of the sport."

Lawsuit

In March 2004, Alexis Argüello filed a lawsuit against

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

, and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

regarding his appearance in both ''Knockout Kings 2000'' and ''Knockout Kings 2001''. He alleged that his likeness and identity were put into the games without his permission.

References

PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games 2000 video games Video games set in 2001 EA Sports games Boxing video games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Burke Trieschmann Black Ops Entertainment games Multiplayer and single-player video games {{Boxing-videogame-stub