If you have played a previous Fight Night game before, Champion isn't the biggest step up you could have hoped for. The main new addition is champion mode, a cinematically driven campaign playing as Andre Bishop. Although it's a nice change being able to play through a “story” in a sports title, it's unfortunately nothing to jump for joy over. It isn't very long, about five hours, and it isn't very compelling. Also several fights force you to do certain things (eg. Win by knockout, use your right hand etc) and although this is fine in theory, you get prompted to do these actions prior to the cinematic which explains WHY you must do these things, which does take away from its effect.
Apart from champion mode, all the previous game modes exist; fight now, legacy mode, online play. There is a good roster, although several big names (Marciano, Louis etc) are only available via purchasing them from the playstation network. Fighter creation returns, and you can create your fighters face via uploading a photo of yourself, which although not overly accurate, is a nice touch. The other customisables (ring entrance music, style, clothing etc etc) combine to give you the ability to create a relatively unique fighter.
Legacy mode is still, in my opinion, the best part of Fight Night, although training mini-games and sponsorship offers are far from exciting. Another disappointing but reasonably acceptable problem is that by the time you get your fighter up to the top ten, a lot of the big name fighters you import in to your legacy mode will have retired; hence you will be left defending your title against one or two real fighters and a plethora of fictional fighters.
Online play is where Fight Night Champion really lets itself down. Don't get me wrong, a fight against a good player is one of the most exhilarating online experiences I have ever had on PS3; however it's a pity it is so hard to come by. Match making is atrocious, especially in online world championship mode where you can spend easily 15 minutes trying to find a match. And even if you do find a match, it will probably be against someone 30 or so levels above you. Hence you will be forced to use your rookie fighter with a rating of 80ish against someone who's had over a hundred fights and has a fighter with a skill rating over 90. It's a smidge unfair, and something which really shouldn't have been allowed. On the other side of online play however, is head-to-head mode. This allows you to jump into a fight with any of the licensed fighters. Not only does this eliminate the unfair difference between fighter skill levels (although you could choose a really bad fighter if you wanted I suppose), but it is a lot faster to find a match in this mode. However, the biggest problem with Fight Night Champion's online play is by far the lag. It isn't prevalent all the time, but for the one third or so fights you will have that contain unbearable lag, it is down right ridiculous. The fighters will move around at zombie pace, and your punches will fire off a good second or two after you press them (and somehow punches you never press will often be thrown).
So Fight Night Champion is a boxer which makes the top five, but unfortunately doesn't win the belt. Its story driven champion mode is a reasonably good addition, the legacy mode should keep you busy for a good while, and if you can handle wading through a few lagging online fights, you will experience some of the best online gaming available. Overall, a good step in the right direction for this well established franchise.