It probably won't but maybe after reading this the task of making the next Fight Night title will seem straightforward enough for the developers to actually get to work on it.
Forget what other people say about wanting this boxer or that included in the game. Trust me, NOBODY ACTUALLY CARES about the boxers that get licensed. This isn't madden, we're not worried about simulating theoretical fights, because in boxing there's way to many intangibles when it comes to fighters. What people actually want is gameplay and mechanics that feel both natural and realistic. These are the VAST MAJORITY of the audience for these games. And trust me, not only is pleasing them the ONLY thing that matters, if you do these things you'll find expansion from OUTSIDE the current audience.
The thing about these demands is that they fix the problems that made Fight Night Champion feel inaccessible to the more general audience. I guarantee tens of thousands of potential players picked up Fight Night Champion and after facing two people online that used one of the three guaranteed-win spam tactics, they decided they weren't going to bother with the game.
The wish list of every real Fight Night fan is simple and to the point:
1. Eliminate cheese - no mechanics which can be spammed to win without playing like a real sim
2. Realistic movements - remove the ice-skating animations and no-clip slides
3. Realistic punch power - e.g. A straight punch while both fighters are moving away from each other shouldn't be a knockout
4. Realistic punch accuracy - punches shouldn't miss for no reason, but shouldn't randomly tag a moving/blocking opponent for no reason, either
5. Actual Fatigue and stamina management (this one is big) - Stamina management is key in boxing. First off, high stamina fighters have low power because their movements and punches contain less energy (power) and therefore consume less stamina. They can produce knockouts, but NOT with single punch power. They use accumulation of punches, and even when the knockout comes, it's not because they built up damage and suddenly it was too much. It comes after building up damage on an opponent until you are able to suddenly connect with a series of clean blows that overwhelm an opponent and do massive damage because of their rapid succession and additive effect.
High power fighters can throw far fewer punches, and must set their feet firmly to deliver that power. They are more powerful even when tired and hurt, which is where the term "punchers chance" is often heard. Still, regardless of what type of fighter they are, IF they run COMPLETELY out of stamina, they will not have power. They will NOT have good movement, they won't even be able to block punches effectively. That's how fatigue works. Almost no fighter would ever get to that level of exhaustion, but in Fight Night, the players do and yet they just keep throwing punches until they somehow produce a flash knockout anyway. There shouldn't be any mechanism in place to prevent players from reaching that level of exhaustion, you absolutely SHOULD be able to throw so many punches that you literally can't throw a single punch anymore. None of this 1% bar refill, throw a heavy punch and have it connect at full power BS.
I assure you, no one is going to stop playing because they can't figure out how to not throw constant punches. Allowing this is what makes people quit playing, because it's completely contrary to the very mechanics that the game sets forth.
6. Specific Fatigue - Your left arm doesn't get tired from throwing your right and vice versa. Moreover, punching DOES fatigue your legs, though not as much, because you use your legs to produce punching power. Running DOES weaken your punches, because your legs get tired and can't contribute properly to your punching, but it DOES NOT fatigue your arms. This means a fighter with tired legs is throwing less powerful punches, but his arms are full strength so he can still grab and scuffle on the inside very effectively. On the other hand, in addition to punching grabbing, clutching, pushing and even blocking fatigue your arms specifically and will make your punches weak if you do it too much. And Remember, it takes strength to block, so tired arms means less effective or even ineffective blocking.
An ideal stamina system would actually track stamina on left arm, right arm, and legs individually, while maintaining all the proper interactions between them.
