Potentially worried about the nostalgic success of Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! sequel, EA has countered with…Mike Tyson.

EA let fans vote on whether Tyson or Muhammad Ali would grace the cover of Fight Night Round 4, and decided that both should.

Full release after the break.

Guildford, UK. – Monday, March 9, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that “The Greatest of All Time”, Muhammad Ali, and “Iron” Mike Tyson will share the cover of one of the most anticipated games of 2009, Fight Night Round 4. Fan voting on www.AliorTyson.com started in late December 2008 and the final results favored having both legends together on the cover. Fight Night Round 4 is being developed under the EA SPORTS™ brand by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C and will ship to retailers worldwide this summer.

Muhammad Ali, the most celebrated boxer of all time, was famous for his quick tongue and his even quicker hands that wore down his opponents fight after fight. Ali was the first fighter in history to win the undisputed heavyweight championship three times, and is highly revered for his contribution to the sport of boxing. Mike Tyson, a knock out legend, will join Ali on the cover. The youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight championship, Tyson enthralled the world with his precision, power, and ability to put away his opponents in the first round. These two boxing icons finally come face to face in Fight Night Round 4.

“I’m honored to be on the cover of Fight Night Round 4 with Ali. He was a special champ, and I have the highest respect for him as a person and a fighter” said Tyson. “People always ask me if I think I would have beaten Ali if I had the chance to fight him when we were both in our prime. Now you can figure it out for yourselves. Fight Night puts you right in that ring and gives you the gloves to settle the score.”

The addition of Mike Tyson to Fight Night Round 4 fills a hole in videogame rosters that has existed for almost a decade. Users will finally be able to fight as ‘Iron Mike’, or fight against him as one of many other all time greats. Promising to revolutionize the fighting genre, Fight Night Round 4 features an all new physics based gameplay engine that brings the most authentic interpretation of the sweet science to the videogame world. The action inside the ring will be faster than ever, delivering a true representation of the sport’s incredible speed, accuracy, timing, and power. Fight Night Round 4 allows you to create dozens of legendary match ups, including Tyson vs. Ali, with unprecedented realism.