The fight between Hafthor Björnsson and Eddie Hall, currently scheduled to occur on Sept. 18, 2021, is one of the year’s most anticipated fights. That is a big statement considering that neither of the two World’s Strongest Man winners — Hall in 2017 and Thor in 2018 — have any serious experience in a boxing ring.
Björnsson — who surpassed Hall’s milestone 500-kilogram deadlift with a deadlift of 501 kilograms in 2020 — plans to fix that. The Icelandic native has an exhibition fight with Steven “Quiet Man” Ward scheduled to take place on Jan. 15, 2021, in Dubai. Core Sports tells BarBend that this exhibition bout is the first of several Björnsson has lined up to accumulate more experience before his scrap with Hall.
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Tale of the Tape
Steven Ward is from Belfast, Ireland, and has a professional record of 13 wins with only one loss. According to Tapology, his last contest was on Sept. 30, 2020 — where he defeated Jone Volau via judges’ decision. He’s 30 years old, stands 6’2″, and weighs around 200 pounds. By boxing standards, he’s not a small man.
However, there are very few men who can stand next to Björnsson and not look small. At 32 years of age, Björnsson stands 6’9″ and weighs around 345 pounds. That is a far cry from last May when he pulled the all-time heaviest deadlift of 501 kilograms (1,104 pounds) weighing 450 pounds.
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Fight Details
Björnsson’s first exhibition is set to take place on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at Conrad Dubai. The fight will be streamed a day later on CoreSports.world at 2:00 p.m. EST. Core Sport’s streaming service will relaunch on Jan. 14, 2021, where fans can sign up. The main event will also be available on its own through Björnsson’s Twitch and YouTube channels as well as on the IFL TV YouTube channel.
The fight was originally going to occur in Iceland, but because of restrictions due to COVID-19, it is now taking place in Dubai. The entire event was made possible in part by MTK Global, a boxing management company considered one of the major organizations in that sport.
Since the fight between Ward and Björnsson is an exhibition match, Ward’s professional record won’t be affected. The exhibition will consist of three, three-minute rounds. This fight will be the main event of what is planned to be a five-to-six-fight card. Details of the other fights have yet to be announced.
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The commentary team for this fight will feature MMA legend Bas Rutten, former boxing champion Carl Frampton, MBE, and host of “Before the Bell,” Chris Lloyd. Further details of Björnsson’s other exhibitions have yet to be announced. There is no word on if Hall plans to do similar exhibitions as of this writing.
Stay tuned, as BarBend plans on covering more Björnsson and Hall fight news in the coming weeks and months.
Featured Images (left to right): @thorbjornsson/steven_ward on Instagram