[7] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the documentary experiences "varied success" but "comes from a place of caring for an oft-maligned sport".

[9] At Indiewire, Kevin Jagernauth wrote that it "examines what it means to be a man" and "while the director has no shortage of famous people showing up — Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard, Spike Lee, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent — their contributions are carefully and tastefully selected, with Marcus largely ceding to the more knowledgeable and less flashy experts, who are the ones that truly contribute the context to make Champs as insightful as it is",[10] and Zeba Blay described it as "more a social documentary than a sports documentary".

[11] Ashton Morris of The Hot Zone said, "Bert Marcus, with keen intellect and whimsical creativity, illuminates a long ignored "issue" – that's putting it lightly – in a sport that has left its mark on the fabric of our country's history.

"[12] Alan Ng of Film Threat rated 8/10 and said, "You’ll find inspiration from the stories of its three subjects and make you think again about the gladiatorial game and business, we know as boxing".

Sean Crose of Boxing Insider writes, "[p]erhaps that's why Marcus' new documentary, Champs, deals with more than just its main subjects: Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, respectively.