Strongman and boxer Eddie Hall was forced to bow out of his long-awaited grudge match against his fellow strongman Hafthor Bjornsson earlier this year, after detaching his bicep during a sparring session. “I said to the promoter, I will still fight Thor with one arm,” he says in a new YouTube video. “The willingness was there, I wanted to fight one-armed, and I believe I can beat Thor one-armed.”
Ultimately, Bjornsson ended up in the ring with armwrestling champion Devon Laratt instead, and won the fight in the first round. But Hall, who has made a habit of trash-talking his rival, had some choice words after watching the fight night footage for himself.
“It’s easy to talk smack from the sidelines, I’m sat here with a bust up arm, so fair play to Devon,” he begins, pointing out the limited time that Laratt had to prepare. “I would say an average Joe would need six months’ training to be able to do three minute rounds, and that’s still a big ask. So for Devon to do this in five weeks? Phenomenal.”
Once he actually starts the playback, it isn’t long before Hall is repeatedly describing Bjornsson’s punching technique as “sloppy,” “terrible” and “wild”:
“He keeps throwing that jab out, keeps throwing it, just trying to line up that backhand, but the backhand’s too sloppy, you can see it coming a mile away,” he says. “I think Thor had the advantage on the skill level, but it wasn’t that big a difference, let’s be honest… That’s nothing to be proud of, on Thor’s behalf.”
“[I’m] not impressed with that, to be honest,” he concludes. “I mean, Thor’s just doing all the standard stuff, he’s trying to hold the center of the ring, he’s moving right, which is what you do against an orthodox fighter, just trying to bring him onto his backhand. Again, that sloppy jab, it just won’t wash. That won’t wash for me. I think he’d better rethink his strategy with that, because that’s going to cause him a load of problems.”
And true to form, he ends the video by addressing Thor directly:
“Keep doing what you’re doing, mate, because it’s absolute dogshit,” he says. “I absolutely believe, 100 percent, I’m going to win our fight when we meet.”
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