Sugar Ray Robinson dances around the ring, but Silk is sticking him with a regularity that defies description. Upstairs, downstairs, it is a pummeling in every sense of the word. A vicious haymaker (“That haymaker sent a clear message of destruction”) catches Robinson and he staggers backward.

Almost defenseless, he is trying to avoid the finishing shot. A left uppercut snaps his head back but as he is falling backwards, Robinson – in the process of throwing a roundhouse right, flails out and connects, dropping Silk to the canvas with one shot. Suddenly Robinson’s health bar is back up by a third and Silk, on the verge of victory, loses the fight.

A lucky punch, or bad game mechanics? Hard to say, but something sure seemed amiss.

EA Sports is behind Fight Night Round 3, a solid fight program for the Xbox that has some high points but some low points as well. For example, each fighter trains before their fights. You can play the training mini-games and get better stat boosts (more on stats in a moment), or you can auto-train and get lower boosts. If you play the entire game on auto-train, by the time you get into the tough opponents, you won’t stand a chance of beating them. Why? Because their stats will be so much higher that it would be like throwing a lightweight fighter, arms strapped to his sides, into the ring against a heavyweight.

And the experience is very much managed. Between fights you can pick your opponent, but regardless, you will fight ‘x’ amount of fights, before your popularity puts you into a bigger fight. This is opposed to the PSP version that allows much more flexibility in managing the career, picking the fights for ranking and payoffs.

In fairness, the disk used to write this review was the same disk that was used in the preview. It was not the retail disk, and so some of the problems/bugs encountered may not be in the final copy, but EA stated the disk received was for review purposes, hence the report of some of the problems.

There are several ways to play the game. Play Now is the instant fight mode; ESPN Classic offers historic fights and the chance for players to rewrite or participate in legendary rivalries; Game Modes offers up Xbox Live multiplayer options and Hard Hits fights; but the crowning single-player mode is the career mode, in which you create a fighter, skill up the attributes, work through the amateur rankings and finally turn pro. There are eight attribute/stat categories: power, speed, agility, stamina, chin, body, heart, and cuts.

To create a second fighter in the career mode, you just create different profiles on the Xbox. During a fight, you can throw in the towel before losing and you pop back to the main screen, pre-fight with the chance to try it again.

You can create and customize a character or take a boxing legend and recreate his career from scratch.

Once you have either recreated a legend or created a new fighter (using a very nice customization options package), you begin by signing a contract for a fight. You can scout your opponent, but you also need to look at the contract terms. Some will offer rounds for the fight, but others can be a hard hit encounter, meaning that rounds are ended when one fighter hits the canvas. Others will offer increased paychecks for winning the bout or bonus to other areas, like popularity.

The fight is signed so you head to training. You can hire a trainer, some are free but offer no bonuses, while others will cost a bit and give improved results. Training falls into three attribute-specific areas plus sparring. You can auto train or play the training mini games. The latter offers the opportunity to get bigger rewards but you can also fail and come off with losses in categories. You will only get half the points for auto training but it gets you to the fight faster.

Winning fights gains popularity, more money and unlocks better gear and fighting styles. If you unlock a new fighting style, you need to return to the edit boxer screen to activate it.

The controls did feel a little sluggish at times. The right analog stick controls the punching. If you push the stick to the right, rotate clockwise and then counterclockwise you can execute one of the new Impact punches – the Flash KO. The other new Impact punches are the Haymaker and Stun Punch.

The Xbox version uses the health and energy meters along the bottom of the screen. If your fighter runs low on energy, the punches will be slower, you will hear heavier breathing and you will tend to stand there and take counters. Moving away will recharge the energy meter, plus give you more room to set up better combinations. Standing toe-to-toe is not recommended in most cases.

Of course, not all blows are recognized in the game’s AI. The meter of the opponent is low, and you send in a hard combo that totally rips the wind from him and starts him on a fall toward the mat. His hands drop and as they do, you unleash a vicious uppercut. Ok, now if that landed to the chin of a stunned and unprotected fighter, chances are really good that it is light’s out. But the game doesn’t seem to recognize the free shot. If the foe has not been knocked down before, the odds are good he will be back on his feet by the time the bodiless referee gets to the count of 7.

The soundtrack blends in nicely with the mood of the game. Featuring songs like Sean Biggs (Featuring Akon and Topic)  “Never Gonna Get It” or Young Roscoe’s “Itz Nothin’,” this is foot-tapping smooth backdrops for the interface. The announcer does a decent job of keeping abreast of the action. On a couple of occasions, the corner chat (which can be repetitive) dropped out, though the crowd noise was still there.

And the announcer did get off track or so it seemed at one point. And there is a tendency to repeat phrases, which can be very annoying, and there are generic post-round comments that can apply to either fighter but you know one is getting the stuffing knocked out of him. Of course, post fight, you see the scoring. Judge No. 1 better kick his seeing-eye dog because it is lying to him.

The graphics have some clipping problems, but nothing too huge. There are load times that are not overly long or distracting. Some of the animations are not too accurate. A solid blow to the solar plexus usually does not cause a spew of blood from the mouth, or if it does, the ring doc better be ready to step in. Occasionally a disembodied arm floats through the center of the camera, clipping causing it to appear as an angular blob.

Fight Night Round 3 is a solid fighter, though with a few problems that stop it just short of being a title-holder. Still, the career mode is well done and a lot of fun to play. Stepping into the legendary rivalries is always exciting and challenging and there is enough here to please just about any fight fan as well as those looking for a solid fight title.

Gameplay: 8.2
Load times, some sluggish controls and some suspect moments when the AI seems to take a licking and then get lucky. It can happen, though usually not when the fighter is falling backwards from a crushing blow.

Graphics: 8.7
Very well done, with fluid animations.

Sound: 7.5
The tunes are very good and fitting, but the fight commentary can be repetitive or simply miss the mark. On the build received, there were times when the between-bout instructions from your corner man dropped.

Difficulty: Medium
There are several difficulty settings that set a foundation for the game experience, but the challenge ramps up as you progress up the ladder.

Concept: 8.0
Some nice features, but the game mechanics needed work.

Multiplayer: 8.2
Xbox Live support for multiplayer head-to-head action.

Overall: 8.1
Some repetitious commentary, or moments when the audio just drops out during chats with the corner man between rounds hamper the game. The career feels very directed as well. This is a good fighter but it could have been much better. Still, the game is entertaining, challenging and looks good.