Hafthor ‘The Mountain’ Bjornsson has vowed to knock-out rival Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall ahead of what’s being dubbed the ‘world’s heaviest boxing match’ in Las Vegas next year.
After Bjornsson beat Eddie Hall’s strongman deadlift world record by 1kg on May 2, the Icelandic giant revealed that both him and the Brit would be entering the ring as part of a mouth-watering seven-figure deal and to settle their feud once and for all.
The pair have been at odds since 2017’s World’s Strongest Man after the controversial Viking Press event, which saw Bjornsson discounted of reps. Hall would go on to pip Bjornsson in the final standings by one point to be crowned that year’s victor.
In an interview with True Georgie, Hall revealed his main motivation for wanting to lock horns with Bjornsson, delving into more personal reasons behind his decision.
“It’s not about the contract, it’s not about the money offer, it’s not about this stupid deadlift feud we’ve got going on, Eddie admitted. “It’s the fact that he accused me of being a cheat at World’s Strongest Man, 2017.”
And with such deep-rooted motives, Eddie also touched on the intensity that he’s bringing to his training before the lights of Las Vegas shine on the two giants.
But now Hafthor has hit back at Eddie, even going so far as to make a bold prediction on the outcome of the fight — despite having only just started his training camp.
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Hafthor to knock-out Eddie ‘possibly in first round’
In an interview with the Daily Star, the 31-year-old stated that: “I can see myself knocking him out early on, possibly in the first round.”
And in terms of doing what it takes, Hafthor is no stranger to digging deep: “I know that I can work hard when it comes to these things,” he said. “I can just get into a zone to work really hard and I’m going to do that.
Aside from the money itself, Hafthor will have his own grounds for stepping into the ring with Eddie — which could stem from the Brit’s comments in the run-up to his world record deadlift, where he stated that the attempt should not stand given that it was set in Thor’s home gym.
Of course, the past is the past and the pair have temporarily shifted gears from strongman to boxing for the foreseeable future…
With both men each having a World’s Strongest Man title under their belt, the matchup is evenly poised and all is set for what will no doubt be a historic event in September 2021.