I love Fight Night Round 3. I still play it over at my friend Aaron's house every now and then, only to have the wind knocked out of me before I eventually do a little "rope-a-dope" with Ali and kick some poor lightweight's ass all over the ring. Sure, it's a little cornball to see the King from the Burger King ads making the rounds as my manager, but hey, it's all about the in-ring action, baby. (And I probably get free Whoppers, too.) EA Sports found a great deal of success with the game on Xbox 360, so they're giving it another shot at the next-gen championship- it's being prepped for the PlayStation 3.

Those unfamiliar with Fight Night Round 3 and why it shines so brightly over other boxing games, let me fill you in. The game pretty much does almost everything right when it comes to nailing down the next-gen boxing experience on the Xbox 360. The graphics are unbelievable, probably the best to be ushered out of an EA developer studio to date thus far; the gameplay floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee thanks to the analog boxing control system; the online play via Xbox Live assures you'll always find fresh competition ready to strike at you; and the extra features are bountiful enough to keep you in the ring, if the ring girl doesn't do so.

That's the momentum that EA Sports is so heavily leaning on when it comes to the PS3 edition. When EA first showcased this title last year at E3 2005, they did so on the PS3 hardware, and you can probably remember the detail that poured onto the screen. Two boxers having it out with small punches, and then the first one firing off well-timed shots to the face, leaving the second boxer wobbly and drooling spittle out of the sides of his mouth following a vicious knock-out blow. Look for EA to continue the beautiful graphic trend in the PS3 version, right down to the cuts and bruises that a fighter builds up on his face over the course of a round. (Fortunately, you have a "cutman" that can clean up such damage following each round.)

The gameplay should be very familiar to those who played Fight Night Round 3 already. The left analog stick will control the movement of your fighter around the ring, while the right analog stick can perform various punches, such as jabs and uppercuts. Particular motions have to be completed in order to get your punches off in succession, although it's fairly easy to put together some kind of two or three-hit combo system. There's also knockout blows that cause massive damage to your opponent, as well as illegal hits (use too many of these and the ref will call the fight) and defensive moves to avoid damage. Realism is an important factor in this game, and EA looks to be keeping it in line with the conversion.

The selection of fighters for this game is quite staggering, including several newbies in the lightweight division, as well as a few old pros who know their game inside and out. Perhaps topping this list of the boxing elite is the one and only Muhammad Ali, who prances around the ring like he did back in his heyday as he delivers knockout after knockout. Not only are the fighters visually present, but EA has made sure that each one has their individual fighting style mimicked, right down to the little displays of attitude. So you won't see some kid trying to pull the stuff of that Evander Holyfield would, and vice versa. It's this form of personality that helps give this boxing game more of a sting than the competition. Anyone can make a game that just throws around fists- it's when you have the delivery of said fists dialed in that you know you have a contender.

The game will feature various modes to play around with, so you can hop right in for a quick fight as well as tackle a career mode to build up your own championship run. As for online play, we're pretty sure that it will make the cut, so fighters can continue to swing away at each other over the PlayStation 3 network. The ESPN license once again makes a return, so you can have match-ups in ESPN Classic mode (complete with black and white graphic effects) and use ESPN Integration to keep track of fighters all over the web, and possibly even real fights if they're happening.

So, aside from ESPN Integration, is anything really new coming to the PS3 version of Fight Night Round 3? Actually, yes. EA Sports is introducing an all new mode to the game that is simply called Get In the Ring. So what is this mode about? Well, EA hasn't entirely spilled the beans on it yet, but here's what we do know. This mode is being done completely in first-person, from walking your way to the ring to getting knocked the hell out in the middle of it. It's made to give you the perspective from the boxer's point-of-view, so you can see what kind of anticipation goes into a fight and then the intensity of the fight itself. Look for all kind of dizzying effects in this mode, as well as a stellar change of perspective that will give the game a unique view that competitors fail to grasp.

Fight Night Round 3 is already a knockout on the Xbox 360, and a leading pick for some top awards come year's end. However, the PS3 version doesn't look to be slouching, especially with the new ESPN Integration and the Get In the Ring mode. PS3 owners will have a lot to get excited about if EA can recreate the thunder again, as they bop around the ring and get in a few knockouts without even a slight bruise on their real-life hand. Look for more coverage on this game in the weeks ahead as we get more information on its forthcoming release. And get to work on your "I'm the greatest!" proclamations.