The talk of the Strongman world, you can’t avoid it even if you try. Eddie “The Beast” Hall 500kg deadlift and 2017 Worlds Strongest Man winner and Hafthor “The Mountain” Bjornsson 501kg Deadlifter and 2018 Worlds Strongest Man winner have major beef that has led to their upcoming boxing match which is schedule to take place in September 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada presented by Core Sports The boxing match is still a year and half away but this far out who is the early favorite?
Hafthor ‘The Mountain’ Bjornsson vs Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall odds according to SBD.
Eddie Hall – 6/4
Hafthor Bjornsson – 1/2
Draw – 16/1
Hafthor as the early favorite but I disagree and here is why….
The fight is so far out anything can happen but at this point in time I have to disagree with SBD. These aren’t professional fighters so normal boxing stats like reach matters very little I think. Let us be honest this is less boxing and more a fight and I give the early edge in the fight to Eddie Hall due to a few reasons.
- He has been retired from Strongman Longer:
Strongman training is very different from training for a fight and Eddie has been lifting lighter for longer and stopped competing at the international level after his Worlds Strongest Man win in 2017. He has had longer to let his body heal, his get healthy, drop weight, work on more longer duration conditioning and more while Hafthor Bjornsson just deadlifted 501kg for a new World Record and got incredibly huge for that not to mention the toll a heavy training cycle like that takes on the body.
- Eddie Hall Has more history of boxing training:
Eddie Hall has more videos of him having gloves on, practicing boxing, hitting mitts, etc and experience matters. There is the video of Hafthor Bjornsson sparring with Connor McGregor and another bit of boxing but overall there is more evidence Hall has more experience punching things and when two amateurs fight experience matters a lot.
- Eddie Hall Grew Up Rough
It may be self proclaimed but going by his book and interviews, etc Hall seems to have got in more fights throughout his life than Hafthor. Does this matter? Maybe, if you were to guess which of the two is a bit meaner and has more to prove in general? I picked Hall for that one.
The facts are these are two of the strongest men of all time and they have almost a year and a half to train for this fight so a lot can change and it will depend on who trains most specifically for this with keeping the heavy deadlifts and what they are both known for on the back burner. Thor may be seen as an early favorite but at this moment in time I’d pick Hall for the upset
Featured Image via @eddiehallwsm
Pingback: The effect of influencer culture on Strongman – Starting Strongman