Gamers take on Audley- 30th May 2002

Knock out! Audley Harrison trains Justin Forrest and Jon Hare

Design team at Codemasters thrown into the ring to create latest Heavyweight boxing game for PS2

Audley Harrison, the Olympic gold super-heavyweight championship boxer has revealed that one of the hardest challenges of his career was not winning Commonwealth gold or even beating Julius Long recently in just two rounds, but taking on the creative design team at UK games publisher and developer Codemasters!

Audley trained out of shape designers, Jon Hare and Justin Forrest as professional boxers to assist in their understanding of the sport before the launch of new video game, Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing, in which he features.

Codemasters took the unparalleled decision to tie up with Audley, one of the best known and most respected boxers in the sport, so that it';s the games creators could better understand the regime a boxer has to put himself through.

The team wanted to understand the intensity, brutality and dedication to the sport so it could ensure that Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing for Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft XboxTM was the most realistic boxing game created and was what boxing fans were demanding.

The gaming experts, who are more used to spending everyday sitting in front of a PC, were instructed to train three times a day and learn the techniques, skills and manoevres required by a professional boxer. Under the watchful eye of Audley, the designers learnt how to punch correctly, shadow box, conduct pad boxing, increase their overall fitness and stamina and develop the right mental attitude to get into the ring.

Jon Hare, chief games designer at Codemasters said Audley didn't pull any punches with us!! This extra insight has been invaluable and by the end of our training, we really understood the strength and mentality of a professional boxer. We wanted to recreate the adrenaline rush and the power and speed of boxing in the game itself.

Audley Harrison commented that "It takes true grit and determination to become a professional fighter. I was happy to show these guys what the world of boxing is really like because I want fans of the sport to be able to play a realistic and adrenaline packed game that gets as close to the bone as possible. You have to be prepared to work 24/7 to win in the ring and this was just a taster of what life is like as a boxer."