The exhibition and slugfest games provide a wide range of male and female fighters to choose from. Noticeably absent is Mike Tyson, but you can choose current champions like Lennox Lewis or Floyd Mayweather, or past greats like Muhammad Ali or Marvin Hagler. A very nicely modeled portion of the game is the different fighting styles represented for each fighter. Boxers can have a classic style, throw big punches as a slugger, or float like a butterfly and sting like a bee with a freestyle. It was quite nice to see Ali throwing his patented uppercuts very realistically on my TV screen.
Career mode is a mixed bag.
It's fun, but it is limited and isn't really representative of a boxing career. There also isn't much changed since earlier versions of Knockout Kings. You begin as one of around 18 ranked prize fighters and must work your way up to become world champion, and you can do this in light, middle, and heavyweight classes. The early fights are fought in small venues but as you progress up the ladder, the events get larger and are in the big arenas like Madison Square Garden. One nice aspect of Knockout Kings 2001 is that you get an extensive set of visual and style choices to create the fighter that you will use during career mode.