It was billed as the “heaviest boxing match in the world” as Thor Bjornsson took on fellow strongman Eddie Hall in a bout in Abu Dhabi Saturday night. The two combatants combined to weigh over 650lbs in the ring when they squared off in the six round contest.
Both fighters got in their fair share of punches with Hall dropping “The Mountain” once, while Thor managed to score two knockdowns against his World’s Strongest Man rival. When all was said and done, Thor was declared the winner via unanimous decision (all three judges scored the contest 57-54 in favour of the Icelandic giant).
The 6’9” strongman now runs his amateur boxing record to 2-0-2 since first stepping into the ring in January of 2021. All four of his bouts have taken place in the United Arab Emirates, with his first two contests being scored draws.
Since then, he’s managed to score a 1st round knockout against professional arm wrestler Devon Larratt, followed by his unanimous decision victory over Eddie Hall. Bjornsson’s trainer Billy Nelson said after the match that he believes Thor could make a go of becoming a professional boxer if he truly wanted to. However he’s reportedly warned him against becoming a full time boxer, owing to the unforgiving nature of the sport.
That being said, the contest wasn’t a cakewalk for Thor on Saturday. Hall managed to stagger his opponent earlier in the bout, but seemed to lose energy as the contest wore on. Fans online were quick to comment that Hall looked to ride the adrenaline early on, but ultimately lacked the technique required to go the full six rounds, especially with someone the size of Bjornsson.
Following the contest Thor took to social media to show off a black eye suffered in the contest via one of Hall’s powerful right hand shots:
While their rivalry is likely far from finished, both men at least took the high road following the bout. They posed for pictures in the middle of the ring together, and both agreed to donate their fight purses to a charity of the other’s choosing.
Overall the contest was an entertaining bout, but internet detectives did manage to poke holes in the theory that it was the “heaviest” super-heavyweight fight of all time. Instead that distinction goes to Butterbean, who took on Joe Siciliano in 2007 in a fight that reportedly tipped the scales at a whopping 730lbs combined.
Regardless, both men have already indicated that they’ll now refocus on their strongman duties following the contest. That being said, it’s highly likely this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Thor in the ring.
Photo: Ellen Finch. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.