Hafthor Bjornsson beat Eddie Hall by unanimous decision on Saturday night
Hafthor Bjornsson floors Eddie Hall twice to win ‘Heaviest Boxing Match in History’ by unanimous decision and then says he’ll ‘take a rematch no problem’
The former world’s strongest men – who weighed a combined 47 stone for the bout – finally got to settle their rivalry in Dubai in a six-round exhibition bout that see-sawed back and forth with two knockdowns for each man. The pair fought over six rounds at 'Titan Weight'.
Britain’s Hall, known as 'The Beast', came flying out of the corner as he bombarded Thor with a flurry of early efforts, capitalising on a crowd that was clearly cheering for him. He confidently held his hands low as he landed a series of overhand rights on Thor, who used his feet to keep away. On the backfoot, Thor used his southpaw jab to paw at Hall, who was patiently waiting for an opportunity to throw that big overhand right some more. He landed one or two but swiped at thin air more often than he landed. Thor occasionally put three punch combos together and certainly looked the more disciplined boxer of the two.
34-year-old Hall's first punch of round two – another overhand right – sent his bigger opponent reeling backwards into the ropes in round two. He recieved a standing count as it would have been a knockdown if it weren't for the ropes keeing him up. The Mountain from Game of Thrones scord a nice backhand which sent Hall backwards into the ropes, but he fired back instantly and to make the Icelander hit the deck once again, but it was instantly ruled a slip. A right hand clearly landed, so it certainly looked like a legitimate knockdown.
In the third, Hall strangely decided to switch to southpaw and was immediately punished with a one-two to the chin. In this segment, Thor was moving with more confidence and balance, easily outboxing Hall with his jab alone, then scored a knockdown with a sweet one-two in the closing seconds of round three which ended with when Newcastle's Hall was looking up from the canvas, stunned.
Bjornsson was throwing his back hand more frequently with increasing confidence in rounds four and five. Hall wasn't throwing much and when he did, it was his signature overhand right, which was telegraphed and wildly missing. He seemed to have ran out of ideas.
Sensing the clash may have been slipping away from him, Hall came out swinging in the sixth and final round, but was again sent to the floor with that very well executed, accurate back hand again.
Thor, 33 from Iceland, was declared the winner by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 57-54.
The victor said: “I’d like to thank Eddie Hall and his team for putting up a hell of a show, he gave me a hell of a battle.
“I’ve never been dropped in training, so hats off to him. He really can punch. He wasn’t lying! But today, I feel technique won.”
Thor, who is a former professional basketball player, added there could now be a rematch with Hall upset at losing the grudge fight.
He said “Understandably he seemed a bit angry still. He lost the fight so it’s understandable as well.
“But I’m happy, if he wants the rematch I’ll take a rematch no problem. Would you guys like to see a rematch?”
Hall appeared gracious in defeat when he said the better man won on the night.
“At the end of the day I’ve just fought literally the biggest man in the world in a boxing match, I’d like to see anybody else have the balls to do that,” he said afterwards.
The pair of famous strongmen built up a solid rivalry over the past five years which ultimately ended in the ring.
The two first contended against each other in 2017 when Hall was crowned world’s strongest man ahead of his Icelandic rival but things soon got nasty.
Thor accused Hall of cheating during one lift, claiming he had been robbed on the podium.
Hall later released a video which he believed showed Thor’s accusations were unfounded, and took aim at his defeated opponent.
“Hafthor Bjornsson and his entourage have been smearing my title and the referee Colin Bryce’s reputation for the last three years,” Hall said.
“Because he was the Mountain from Game of Thrones, a huge TV star, people listened and people believed him.
“I’ve had enough of the doubters saying he was robbed and how hard done by he was.
“So today, I came across a video that ends all the smack talk and silences the doubters.
“This video stopped me in my tracks for how desperate a man can be when things don’t go his way.
“It’s time for the truth to be told, for the picture to do the talking.
“Hafthor Bjornsson, you and your yes men should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Thor went on to make up for his loss by winning the competition the following year, but things were far from settled with their rivalry continuing outside of the competition.
Thor beat Hall’s 500kg deadlift record in 2020 by 1kg, but Hall contested that it wasn’t a real record as the lift was conducted in a home gym.
Their war of words continued and later resulted in a challenge to take things to the ring which Hall accepted.
The match was meant to take place in September 2021, but anticipation was further ramped up for March 2022’s clash when the original date was put on hold due to a Hall injury.
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