EDDIE HALL and strongman rival Hafthor Bjornsson come to blows this weekend in a boxing battle of the giants.
After a lengthy war of words, the pair will face each other in the middle of the ring at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in a six-round affair.
The pair’s long-running feud escalated when a world record 501kg deadlift by the man dubbed Thor tipped him past Hall’s personal best from July 2016.
Bjornsson declared at the time: “So Eddie, I just knocked out your record, and now I’m ready to knock you out in the ring.
“Time to put your fists where your big mouth is and sign the Core Sports contract.
“I’m ready. Are you ready, Eddie?”
Hall replied that he was ready and waiting for the contract to fight Bjornsson – despite the Brit’s height and weight disadvantage.
He said: “One thousand per cent I’m going to sign those papers.
“And you know why I’m going to sign those papers… it’s not the money, it’s not the dead lift feud we’ve got going on, nothing to do with that.
“It’s because you called me a cheat at World’s Strongest Man 2017. I can’t put that to bed, I can’t forget it. People may forget it, but you’ve never apologised. I don’t care if you’re 6ft 9in, I don’t care if you’re an actual giant. I don’t care.
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“I’m gonna train the hardest, prepare the hardest… do everything in my power to step in that ring and rip your f***ing head off. So Thor, get training, I’ll see you in the ring.”
So how do the two compare?
As Hall pointed out, Bjornsson stands at a mighty 6ft 8in compared to his 6ft 3in frame, weighing 22st 8lb to The Beast’s 24st.
Both men were born in 1988 and possess a single World’s Strongest Man title.
Thor once put together an eight-year streak of podium finishes, claiming the gold medal in 2018.
That came after Hall quit the competition off the back of winning the 2017 title, citing health concerns.
Working out the competitors’ net worth is naturally difficult but a YouTube channel with two millions subscribers and various sponsorship deals are thought to put Hall at around £4million.
That is estimated to surpass Bjornsson’s £1.6m, bulked up by his appearances as The Mountain in Game of Thrones.
Both men are also big eaters and Staffordshire-born Hall is thought to put away 10,000 calories per day – including his stunning 4,000 calorie ‘cheat meal’.
He revealed: “I was in a restaurant ordering mouth-watering lumps of fat taken straight from a massive joint of gammon.
“In terms of taste it was probably one of the most disgusting meals I’ve ever eaten, but in terms of calories, it was the dog’s – about 4,000, all told.”
Bjornsson also revealed his daily goal of scoffing 17,000 calories to repair his muscles after tiresome workouts.
The two former World’s Strongest Man winners were initially scheduled to lock horns in September following a brutal war of words dating five years.
However, Hall suffered a detached bicep and the fight had to be postponed.
But now the stage is set for the heaviest fight in boxing history when the two rivals meet in the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
