Fight Night Round 4 is the best boxing game of all time.  Find me someone who disputes that statement, and I’ll show you a fool who’s asking for a punch in the face.  After a shaky start, the downloadable content is starting to live up to the same level of quality as the game itself.  The first content pack only included a few new pieces of equipment, some gameplay sliders, and an alternate Sugar Ray Leonard costume, but at least it was free.  The second was much better, including new boxers Oscar De La Hoya, and Vitaly and Wladimir Klitschko, as well as alternate versions of George Foreman and James “Lights Out” Toney.  EA has announced that in early December, a new DLC pack for Fight Night Round 4 will hit, continuing their support of the game.

Retailing for $9.99/800, the new pack will include three boxers that fans have been anxiously awaiting; former heayweight champions Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield, along with Philadelphia’s greatest fighter (Rocky Balboa isn’t real), Bernard Hopkins.  Additionally, the DLC pack will offer two new game modes.  Old School Rules, which “brings a new take to the traditional boxing experience,” and Ring Rivalries, which “allows you to re-create some of the greatest match ups in boxing history.”

The press release that announces the new DLC also announces that EA has lowered the MSRP on the game to $39.99, so anyone who's been waiting for a price drop before picking up the best boxing game ever, now's your chance.

I love the level of support that EA has given to Fight Night Round 4, but I do have one complaint; do the files have to be so big?  As an owner of a 20Gb hard drive, I find it very hard to manage my limited disc space, and one gig DLC packs aren’t helping any.  I imagine that this new one will be even bigger, forcing me to delete important information, like Outpost Kaloki save files and that demo for Damnation.

Press release follows.

November 2, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that it will be releasing a new Downloadable Content (DLC) pack for Fight Night Round 4 in early December for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation®3. The DLC pack retails for 800 MS Points and $9.99 on Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace and the PlayStation®Network, respectively. Named the Game Critic Awards “Best Sports Game of E3 2009”, Fight Night Round 4 has been winning over reviewers since its release on June 23rd with its realistic graphics and genre defining physics-based boxing engine.

In addition to including Bernard Hopkins, Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield as playable boxers, the DLC pack will also include two all-new game modes. The first, Old School Rules brings a new take to the traditional boxing experience, while the second, Ring Rivalries, allows you to re-create some of the greatest match ups in boxing history.

EA SPORTS™ also announced today that they have reduced the suggested retail price on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Fight Night Round 4 to $39.99 in North America.

Fight Night Round 4 is currently available for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft. This game has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB, and 16+ by PEGI.  For more information, log onto http://fightnight.easports.com. Media can find images of the cover, screenshots and video at http://info.ea.com.