Yesterday, Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by unanimous decision to defend his unified heavyweight title. “Sportswriters” and “actual boxing fans” might attribute the victory to skill, discipline, gumption, or even good old fashioned stick-to-itiveness, but we gamers know better: Usyk won because he dressed up as the Hitman series’ Agent 47 as a bit during a pre-fight press conference back in October.
You can watch a video of the October 23 event via TNT Sports Boxing on YouTube. Fury enters first, dressed normally—for a boxer at a promo event at least, the man’s still wearing a patterned blazer and a snapback. We then get Usyk’s entrance, and he’s in full Silent Assassin mode with a shaved head, black suit, red tie, leather gloves, a tactical-looking brief case, and a rendition of “Ave Maria” playing over the walkup straight out of Hitman: Blood Money. The real chef’s kiss comes when Usyk reveals what’s in the briefcase: A picture of Fury taking a punch to the face during a bout, which Usyk had his opponent autograph.
It’s such an incredible bit, and I’m not just saying that because Usyk is an undefeated heavyweight boxer and I write articles for a living. The whole thing has, dare I say it, a touch of camp, and Usyk revealing the picture after so much build up is such a hilariously catty little gesture. Being able to commit to such a weird bit so fully as part of a multi-million dollar media event requires the paradoxical confidence to not take yourself too seriously. But also? Usyk got his man, just like Agent 47.
It’s also such a weird, fun example of games’ mainstream pull and recognizability. Hitman in particular is such a strange pull because it’s a niche series of stealth games, but it’s also internationally recognizable thanks in no small part to Agent 47’s iconic design (and maybe also the significantly less iconic Timothy Olyphant movie). I’d love to hear an oral history of how this came about, but until proven otherwise, I’m just going to assume Usyk personally loves Hitman.