Martins Licis weighs in on the upcoming boxing match between strongmen Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall.
The rivalry between Hafhtor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall was always simmering and waiting to explode. That explosion happened earlier this year when the two agreed to face off in a boxing match September 2021. The announcement came shortly after Bjornsson narrowly beat Eddie Hall’s 500kg world record deadlift by 1kg. Not boxers by trade, this battle will be an interesting one to see indeed. But what does the rest of the strongman community think of this boxing match? In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Martins Licis shared his thoughts on the Hafthor Bjronsson vs Eddie Hall boxing match – and predicts who he thinks will win.
Martins Licis is currently the reigning World’s Strongest Man, placing him as one of the biggest names currently competing in the sport of strongman. So what does he think when he looks at fellow icons in the sport, Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall, prepping to battle not weight weights but in the boxing ring? During our video conversation with Licis, we asked him to share his thoughts on the epic strongman boxing match.
Martins Licis is certainly excited due to all of the hype but he’s unsure of how it will all ultimately play out. He thinks that this boxing match can do great things for the sport of strongman – but only if both Bjornsson and Hall are prepared to put on a good show.
“I think it could go either way. This is going to be exciting. This is the biggest, heaviest boxing match I think in history,” Martins Licis states in our interview. He continues:
“If they don’t pass out after two rounds and actually give a good show, like a really good show, this could be good for the sport. People might look at these monsters fighting. They might think, ‘wow look at these athletes. They’re incredible. I want to watch strongman now.’ It could also go the other way. If they suck. If they don’t train well. If their endurance is not good or if they both pass out after one or two rounds, that will suck. I don’t think anybody will care about us after that.”
So it seems Martins Licis is putting a bit of theoretical pressure on both Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall. By doing this sort of spectacle event, Licis sees them as representing strongman to a whole new audience. Should they put on a good show – it can translate to new fans in the coming years.
We also asked Martins Licis who he thinks would win the show. He was less sure about that but still went into detail about the possibilities. Martins is closer personally to Bjornsson and states that he will be rooting for Thor during the match. But when it comes down to who actually has the best chance of winning – it might be a crapshoot.
Licis admits that he thinks Eddie has been training harder than Thor. But that’s only from what Licis has seen himself. He also understands that Bjornsson might be training just as hard – but unseen by the public eye. It seems only time will tell who stands tall in the boxing ring.
You can watch Martins Licis’ full comments on Hafhtor Bjornsson vs Eddie Hall in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
