- Canelo Alvarez has been announced as the latest fighter to join the ambitious Esports Boxing Club lineup
- The Mexican legend may become the featured boxer on the game’s cover, which will debut worldwide at some point in 2021
- Canelo joins a selection of 65+ boxers and sports personalities, including Muhammad Ali, Vasyl Lomanchenko, and others
Saul Canelo Alvarez will be one of the featured fighters in the upcoming Esports Boxing Club fighting simulator developed by Steel City Interactive.
Canelo to Appear on Esports Boxing Club
There seem to be titled and challenges Saul Canelo Alvarez has not yet won or overcome. The reigning WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion are now headed into Esports Boxing Club, becoming the “face of boxing” for the ambitious game that is taking the world of fighting simulators up a notch.
Developed by Steel City Interactive, Esports Boxing Club has already secured over 65 combat sports personalities, but the addition of Canelo is an important milestone as it outlines the company’s ambition to create a more recognized vertical.
The game is lining up numerous fighting legends and bringing them from across the decades to face off once again. You have Vasyl Lomanchenko, the Klitschko brothers, Oleksandyr Usyk, Terence Crawford, and Sugar Ray Leonard, to name just a few. The company even signed Muhammad Ali.
Still, there is a lot of room for improvement, and the game can try its hand at attracting other important sign-ups, including Tyson Fury AKA Gypsy King, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua.
There are also Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, who are still all active and defining boxing as a sport today. Canelo has always been a bit of a lone wolf, breaking away from the promoter with whom he didn’t get along because he wanted bigger and better challenges rather than participating in show fights.
Becoming the Face of Boxing
His acknowledgment of Esports Boxing Club is interesting because Canelo seldom does something as an end in itself. We have seen many professional soccer players, for example, take a keen interest in the EA FIFA Series and the NBA even has its digital alter ego with the NBA2K League.
However, this is the first fighting simulator debut for fighting sports, outside of the traditional fighting game community that is. The game also makes a big statement right from the start having “esports” bang at the beginning of its name. Does this mean Steel City is looking to explore what it may consider “a fad” in the face of competitive video gaming, or are they genuinely interested in establishing a new esports genre?
Why Esports in the Name?
Canelo is almost certainly going to be the cover fighter for the game, and his name on the box – whether in gaming stores or digital marketplaces – is bound to drive sales. Yet, the question remains – is Esports Boxing Club really try to contribute to the ever-growing system of esports, or is it a trick to get more people involved?
Traditional esports audiences have very little patience for products that subvert expectations and reality, but fighting fans are bound to love the game if it’s well-executed, offers a reasonable gameplay experience, and allows them to get in the gloves of their favorite boxers of all times.
The game is coming for PC with no console releases announced just yet. In the meantime, Canelo is already in no shortage of contenders, with both Caleb Plant and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. looking to fight the Mexican legend.
