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Many sports enthusiasts favor rugged, physical sports that challenge the participants’ brawns and skills. Boxing is no exception; a recent poll concluded that around 37% Americans were actual fans of the sport!
Tracing boxing’s origins all the way back to ancient history, the sport has evolved into many different variants around the world, with examples like kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) being some of them.
Noting the timeless interest in the sport, boxing is eventually represented in the form of video games for many people to experience at the relative comfort of home.
I can attest to this as well; too cowardly to step into the ring but bold enough to argue a fictitious bout between Muhammad Ali and Manny Pacquiao!
Boxing games have already existed throughout the past few decades – although it’s quite hard to pinpoint its very first iterations – with Activision’s Boxing for the Atari 2600 (1980) seen as an early example of the sport as a video game.
Today, we can find many boxing games playable across multiple platforms including PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Most boxing games focus on grooming our playable character into an undisputed champion, while others adopt different themes and concepts to provide a friendlier environment for younger audiences.
If you’re looking for a boxing game to have fun with on PC, let’s check out some awesome titles available today.
Top 10 Boxing PC Games
In 2022, there are already many boxing games readily available on the market. A few new titles are also expected to be released before the end of the year as well. If we’re talking about the best amongst the rest, though, here are 10 of the best boxing games on PC that you should definitely try out right now:
CREED: RISE TO GLORY™
Creed: Rise to Glory™ is the closest that we can get to reliving the drama and tension of fictitious boxer, “Donnie” Creed’s ascension to fame. Based on the Creed movie franchise – a direct continuation of the famous Rocky movies between 1976 and 2006 – we get to play as Adonis “Donnie” Creed, son of former boxing legend, Apollo Creed.
Born into the world by his father’s secret mistress, Donnie Creed’s journey from a relative nobody to world heavyweight champion is not an easy one. This is where we fill in his shoes, training under the tutelage of iconic former protagonist, Rocky Balboa.
The game heavily borrows the cinematic experiences of the movies, with surreal crowd noise and actual body movements drawing us into what it feels to be inside the boxing ring with some of the movies’ most feared combatants.
Being a VR-exclusive game, we need to be physically involved inside the game as well. Every punch that we make requires actual movement, testing our stamina and resolve. This makes for exciting fitness sessions if we’re working out.
In Creed: Rise to Glory™, a unique game mechanic called the Phantom Melee Technology is also introduced, encapsulating every nuance that makes the game feel authentic.
For one, we can’t simply swing our hands about, expecting to deliver a 100-punch combo to the opponent. Our playable character can tire, depicted by an orange or reddish glow on the boxing gloves.
Besides that, if we’re close to being knocked out, we will be forced into an in-game out-of-body experience that requires us to ‘run’ towards our beaten character, giving us a chance to continue the fight.
These few instances are enough to prove how tiring the game can be for us, but the overall enjoyment warrants its place amongst the best boxing video games ever released.
Creed: Rise to Glory™ is out now on Steam, sold at around $29.99 before sales or discounts.
BIG RUMBLE BOXING: CREED CHAMPIONS
The next boxing game on our list is Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions! This arcade-style game plays similarly to Tekken and Street Fighter but replaces the playable characters with boxers from both the Creed and Rocky franchise.
Essentially, the game – Creed Champions for short – is the second take of Creed: Rise to Glory™ which was released two years prior. Developed by the same studio, Survios, Creed Champions explores the plot of Adonis Creed from a third-person perspective instead.
Expect never-before-seen characters to feature in this game, like Vick Rivera and Erik ‘Viking’ Erling, as we battle through unexplored fights in Arcade mode. Complete the mode till the end and we’ll unlock all 20 characters available in the game.
A great thing that I like about the game is the ability to change our boxer’s outfit before a bout. This basic detail at least allows us to personalize our boxer’s appearance in the ring, even if there are only two to three outfit choices per character.
The overall gameplay does feel gimmicky and unoriginal – there are already many fighting games out there, like Mortal Kombat and Dead or Alive – but Creed Champions hopes to attract younger audiences towards it by offering a quicker, more casual boxing experience using streamlined gameplay mechanics.
In the end, Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions might not be a triple-A title, but it still justifies itself as an entertaining arcade boxing game if we’re up for some 15-minute boxing fights against family and friends.
On Steam, Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is sold at around $39.99, which is quite expensive for what we get. Wait for a sale for this one might be a good idea.
BOXING CLUB MANAGER
Envisioning yourself as the next Frank Warren, managing the rise of world beaters like Amir Khan and Tyson Fury? The next game on our list – Boxing Club Manager – could be the best boxing management simulator yet!
Still in Early Access, the game was first made available in late January 2022. Boasting extensive tools and utilities as a manager, we are expected to oversee the growth of our selected gym, recruiting and grooming future boxing champions at the same time.
The dedication put by the developer is seen everywhere here, with in-depth features like scouting networks and personalized training regimes all available for us to play around with in our attempts to make our gym known worldwide.
During a bout, we stand by the ropes, shouting instructions at our boxers in an effort to outmaneuver or outlast the opposition. At the moment, match instructions are fairly minimal, with an intensity gauge depicting how aggressive we want our fighters to go in with their punches.
There are tactical selections too, like Out-Boxer or Slugger, to determine the best play to defeat the opponent based on circumstances and each boxer’s best attributes.
Every boxer is unique, each having its own distinct strengths and weaknesses to explore. There are hundreds of fighters created for the game, with more generated as we progress through the in-game years. Personally, I consider the game to be the equivalent of the Football Manager games for football/ soccer, and that’s a good comparison!
However, because the game is extremely new – besides still being in Early Access – some things are still clunky or unpolished, with boxer interactions severely lacking in the man-management part of the game.
Overall, though, Boxing Club Manager is a wonderful attempt at modernizing a different take on the boxing game genre. Still rough around the edges, hopefully, its limitations will be fixed before its complete release sometime soon.
Boxing Club Manager is priced at $39.99 on Steam, but might be cheaper throughout Early Access.
PUNCH CLUB
Up next is Punch Club, a sweet retro-style boxing sim that is packed to the brim with NPCs, branching narratives, impactful stat progressions, and many more. Unlike most other boxing games, this one is more conceptualized as an MMA, with underground fights and part-time jobs being commonplace.
Punch Club opts for a 2D-art style, invoking our nostalgia by revisiting the fun of playing an older generation game. In a nutshell, we play as the surviving son of a murdered martial artist, seeking revenge while growing up against the harsh realities of the world.
The game almost feels like an RPG, allowing us to make our own decisions leading to multiple different storylines during a playthrough. For example, I was given a chance to intervene in an ongoing store robbery, or opt to leave the premise to not get involved instead.
Depending on our decisions, every choice leads to different circumstances leading up to the final act of the plot. This makes the game feel authentic and important, because certain activities do matter to our character’s progression.
Outside of combat, we assume the daily activities of our nameless protagonist. This includes part-time jobs for money, training at the gym, and even grocery buying. During combat, our primary combat stats (Strength, Agility, Stamina) determine the general success rate for us to win against an opponent.
In Punch Club, our stats mean everything. Unlike most games, we do not control our character during fights here. Instead, we pick certain skills and abilities that we have learned throughout our journey, letting our avatar fend for himself according to his overall stats progression, including secondary ones too (Energy, Hunger, etc.).
Punch Club might not seem like a heavyweight title by itself, but its real charms come from the lure of its intriguing narratives and open-ended gameplay.
Punch Club is now available on Steam for only $9.99, which is an absolute steal!
MECH LEAGUE BOXING
Another exciting VR boxing game is Mech League Boxing, created by VRGEN in 2018. As the name implies, we play as a customizable robot, fighting the AI or other players in arenas spanning multiple locations across different planets and space.
The concept isn’t original – in 2013, Real Steel World Robot Boxing was a highly popular robot boxing game that had tie-ins to the movie Real Steel (2011) – but playing Mech League Boxing in VR actually makes the game feel more entertaining and ‘alive’!
The game’s premise is simple: we start the game by creating our own mechanized fighter, playing around with limited customization options provided at the in-game lobby. Once we’re done with our appearance, we can either learn the game’s basics or jump straight into battle.
Ideally, what most of us SHOULD be doing is understand the game’s mechanics first, with two training sections available: Punch Training and Block Training. But, hey, most of us don’t have the time, right? So off we go to either Battle or Warm-Up instead!
Warm-Up is our typical exhibition mode while Battle is the competitive experience of the game – the real place where the mindless, chaotic fun starts! Combat feels fluid and prompt, and certain weapons are even thrown in for us to use against the AI once in a while.
Quick Time Events (QTEs) can also occur during a bout, allowing us to chain simple button prompts in slow-mo. This leads to a massive counter-punch from us, taking a huge chunk of the opponent’s HP while exerting pressure onto their stamina bar (yellow bar underneath their HP).
If the opponent’s stamina bar is maxed out by continuously blocking our punches, another blocked hit stuns them for a few seconds, letting us sneak some free punches in. The same thing applies to us too, but our blocking capacity is represented by the color of our boxing gloves’ ‘aura’/ shield instead.
Mech League Boxing isn’t supposed to be taken seriously, utilizing simple gameplay mechanics and bright, colorful themes to make the game friendly for all ages. In all honesty, though, those are actually part of its allure.
Mech League Boxing is available now on Steam starting from just $8.99, which makes it a no-brainer purchase!
THE THRILL OF THE FIGHT
The Thrill of the Fight is also a major hit amongst many PC gamers to date. An exclusive VR boxing game, The Thrill of the Fight was first released in 2016 but is still highly recommended by many in 2022.
The game is possibly the best boxing simulator on the market right now, and the developer, Sealost Interactive, had done an immaculate job at fine-tuning all the gameplay aspects to mimic real-world scenarios as much as possible.
In The Thrill of the Fight, every bout is raw and unrestrained, with minimal UI cluttering our view. Our stamina and fortitude will literally be tested because matches are determined entirely on our ability to box and outpunch the opponent inside the ring.
In my playthrough, a few rounds legitimately made me run out of breath because I wasn’t prepared to go as physically intense as the game actually sells itself on! For example, we have no indicators to determine the current state of our opponents, forcing us to continue rounds until either we or the AI falls down first.
Nevertheless, we can identify whether our jabs or hooks register effective damage or not via colored cues left behind after each punch. For instance, a blue-colored glow appears after our punch deals good damage, while a grey hue denotes that our jabs do minimal effect because the opponent is blocking them properly (or we just plainly suck at boxing!).
The presentation of the game does leave a lot to be desired, feeling bland and outdated when compared to modern VR games in general. Nonetheless, it doesn’t take away from the no-frills boxing experience which is as close as we can get to an actual boxing match in the real world.
We might need some time to adjust to the difficulty curve of The Thrill of the Fight, though. After a few rounds, it’ll definitely become apparent as to why most players attribute the game to actual fitness and workout sessions in real life.
In fact, the Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise even gave the game a rating of 5 out of 8 for potential calories burned per minute, which is equivalent to rowing in real-time! Just remember to bring enough water and a towel to spare; we’re definitely going to need them.
For such a satisfying experience, The Thrill of the Fight only costs $9.99 on Steam right now, which is a godsend!
KNOCKOUT LEAGUE
VR gamers can also look forward to Grab Games’ Knockout League, a quirky, loony boxing game that is quite challenging, to say the least. Featuring different opponents boasting distinct skillsets and personalities, expect loads of retries during your first few playthroughs.
The main attraction of Knockout League is not about its realism or simulation. Instead, it prides itself as a fun, casual boxing game that mainly focuses on humorous themes such as an octopus, Sir Octopunch, being one of our toughest opponents.
In-game, there are not many fighters to face off against, with only nine (9) characters awaiting us inside the ring. Still, the variety of their punches and special attacks provide an interesting challenge to spice our bouts around.
One primary downside of Knockout League is that footwork does not affect gameplay whatsoever, meaning that any tactical aspects of distance and maneuverability are thrown out the window. Instead, we remain stationary throughout each fight; only our jabs and body sways (to dodge attacks) register as actual in-game locomotion.
This won’t matter much for most people, though, because the game isn’t trying to simulate real-life boxing at all. Knockout League is a light arcade game at heart, and that is gratifying enough for many of us to love it as it is.
The game’s graphical style and character animations are smooth and pleasing to look at, with violence toned down for younger players to enjoy. Sounds and ambiance are also excellent, with the crowd noise elevating the atmosphere as if there were real people cheering us on!
As it stands, Knockout League is a great laid-back boxing game that offers a few hours of enjoyment while being a good alternative for light workouts too.
Knockout League is priced at $19.99 but may be discounted during a sale, so keep your eyes peeled for those.
CYBER FIGHT CHALLENGE
A hidden gem launched in September 2020, Cyber Fight Challenge is an under-the-radar boxing game that is more akin to mainstream arcade fighting games, just like Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions. What it does differently is that we get to create our own boxers in the game, making bouts feel more personal.
Cyber Fight Challenge is envisioned to be a competitive online multiplayer experience for us to duel other players from around the world. This is evident by the game’s emphasis on character creation and instant match-ups, skipping any ladder mode or story-based levels.
Designed as an arcade fighting game (but with boxers), we can easily familiarise ourselves with the keyboard or controller setups. This doesn’t mean that the in-game Training section is useless – because it’s not – but we’re not punished for jumping straight into the action without spending some time learning the basics first, which is a good thing.
A fair criticism of the game can be placed on its lacklustre UI, though, which makes the game feel like an old 2010 game with outdated graphics. The boxers’ animations can also be improved upon too, as they look stiff and robotic, for the most part.
It’s pretty telling that the game was developed with multiplayer at its core, but if you’re just interested in a quick boxing game to kill off time, Cyber Fight Challenge deserves a mention on our list, even with its flaws.
Cyber Fight Challenge sells for $9.99 on Steam today.
BOXING SCHOOL
Some of the best boxing management sims don’t require incredible graphics to impress us, and Boxing School is a testament to that. The developer, Raptor Claw Games, is renowned for implementing deep game mechanics inside their games, as evidenced by the many positive reviews that they received throughout the years.
In Boxing School, we own a start-up gym, aiming to develop our amateur boxers into world champions. At first glance, the art style and cartoonish models can be extremely off-putting. If we look further into the gameplay and in-game features, though, then the real appeal of Boxing School becomes apparent.
When it comes to the gym’s management, we are responsible for upgrading its equipment and handling maintenance. Apart from that, there is also the task of developing our boxing recruits into legit professionals, training them daily in order to improve their basic fighting stats.
The number of tasks for us to do in the game can be quite a chore, but each of them feels balanced and fleshed out to ensure a simplified experience for anyone to pick up on. Our decisions also matter especially when it comes to our boxer’s personalized perks, stats, and boxing styles.
As we progress throughout the game, we will eventually have multiple boxers to train and guide towards success. Each of them has different attributes and skill sets that make them special, especially against certain opponents inside the ring.
This is where the tactical aspects of Boxing School come into play. For instance, we might have a Brawler-type amateur go up against an experienced Swarmer pro. Depending on our chosen boxer, we might advise him to go on the defense, absorbing most of the opponent’s jabs to counter with a devastating hook when the opportunity presents itself.
There is no ‘right’ way to play Boxing School, and that’s what makes it amazing! I’ve lost my own fair share of boxing bouts too, but the repercussions are not game-breaking, which makes it similar to how real-life works.
Boxing School comes off as an impressive boxing sim that really draws us in on our gym’s dramatic rise to fame, despite its weird choice of visuals. As the popular saying goes, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
Boxing School is sold on Steam now, selling from $9.99.
REAL BOXING™
Our last entry today is Real Boxing™ created by Vivid Games S.A. in 2014. Granted, this game is already quite aged, but it still stands as one of the most enjoyable boxing titles available on PC.
At launch, the game was celebrated for its breath-taking visuals and magnificent presentation. In 2022, though, our expectations have somewhat heightened due to the improvements that we’ve seen in video games as a whole.
Real Boxing™ adopts a 3rd-person view of our fighter inside the ring, making engagements feel tight and intense. Although this seems like a great approach initially, the execution is a bit unrefined, with certain animations being wonky and buggy (e.g. arms bending backwards after our hooks are blocked!).
Another problem with the over-the-shoulder perspective is the difficulty to adjust our distance from the opposing boxer/ player. It’s hard to determine our actual proximity to them, making punches harder to land.
This leads to another primary criticism about the game: the lack of punching combos or attacking chains. In other boxing games – and in real life too, mind you – boxers are able to dish out consecutive jabs or hooks to an opponent before finishing off with an uppercut.
Real Boxing™ seems to tone this down by linking our punches to a stamina bar, limiting the number of attacks that we can make at any given time. This feels counter-productive to the overall gameplay, which is a bit disappointing.
However, not everything is all gloomy. For a game made in 2014, the UI is genuinely clean and tidy, allowing us to view everything without many distractions.
Character customization is also astounding, allowing us to change almost every aspect of our favorite boxer on the fly. We can even rename our brawlers too, just to prove the extent of customization in the game.
Real Boxing™ might not be the first boxing game that comes into our minds right from the get-go, but it pioneered many of the improved gameplays and mechanics that we see in many boxing games today. Because of that, it definitely deserves a spot on this list.
Real Boxing™ is up on Steam for only $4.99, and is possibly the cheapest boxing game thus far!
Upcoming Boxing Games for PC
And that concludes our list of the top 10 boxing games for PC right now. Each of them offers unique in-game features for us to experience, allowing us to enjoy the sport like never before.
Looking for other newly released boxing games in 2022? Well, you’re in luck!
Two (2) new boxing games are expected to be launched before the end of the year, both enjoying much fanfare and hype. Let’s uncover those games in question, shall we?
ESPORTS BOXING CLUB
Currently, in Early Access, eSports Boxing Club is an upcoming action boxing game that is being developed by first-time video games studio, Steel City Interactive. Utilizing the latest video games technology and graphics engine, eSports Boxing Club boasts impeccable visuals and awe-inspiring atmospheres inside its real-world arenas.
The game will have around 100 licensed boxers for us to choose from, and we can even create our own rookie fighter from the ground up via the game’s career system as well.
So far, the game promises unlimited freedom for us to customize any boxer to our liking, and a new Feint System will also be introduced to imitate real-life fake-outs which help to throw our opponents off their pace.
eSports Boxing Club oozes tons of potential to become the best boxing game ever created, so make sure to wishlist the game right now to monitor its progress every day!
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING MANAGER™ 2
For fans of boxing management games, World Championship Boxing Manager™ 2 is next in line to be released sometime in 2022. This upcoming sim is potentially one of the best boxing games for low-end PC, capable of running smoothly on basic computer specs.
In-game, we are the head of our own boxing gym, running the show by recruiting and training our own boxing prodigies to be nurtured into becoming the next Floyd Mayweather! We will have many tools and facilities at our disposal to make it happen, and our man-management skills will also be tested.
The game is a direct sequel to 1990’s first World Championship Boxing Manager™, expanding on its predecessor’s proven game mechanics to suit today’s modern settings. There will also be a Story Mode to keep us on our toes, so expect tough decisions to be made along the way.
Graphically, the game adopts a 32-bit visual style that matches the original game’s old-school nostalgia. Most of us won’t really mind this, though, as long as the game promises a fulfilling experience just like how the first one did, 32 years ago!
World Championship Boxing Manager™ 2 was supposed to be released sometime in Spring 2022, but since we’re already halfway through the year now, expect the game’s launch to be delayed for at least another few months instead.
To catch up on the game’s latest updates, make sure to wishlist the game on Steam now to receive notifications as soon as they pop up.
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