Eddie Hall read Tyson Fury's book hours before facing bitter rival Thor Bjornsson in the boxing ring in Dubai on Saturday evening. Thor knocked Hall down twice as he would go on to win via a unanimous point decision on what was a surprisingly entertaining bout.
The two have been rivals for a number of years of competing in World's Strongest Man competitions together, with Hall pipping Bjornsson to the crown in 2017. After years of going back and forth with their rivalry, the two finally settled their differences in the ring on Saturday.
The Icelandic giant was in trouble early on when he was given a count in the second round after Hall caught him, but he recovered well and dropped Hall twice - in the third and sixth round - to get the victory on the score cards. Prior to the fight, Hall was pictured reading Fury's book - The Furious Method.
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It could be considered an unexpected move from Hall given that Fury and Bjornsson are well known to each other having met last year. Bjornsson cheekily named Fury as a potential opponent recently.
He said: "A lot of people have actually been asking me that 'would I fight Tyson Fury? Would I fight the best boxer in the whole world right now? Absolutely if the offer is there, one hundred per cent. Why wouldn't I, I couldn't say no to that.
"I have huge respect for the guy and I love the guy. Great guy... I have actually met him before and if that offer was to come on the table I would one hundred percent look in to it and I just honestly couldn't say no to that. I would train my ass off and surprise the world."
Bjornsson, who played The Mountain in Game of Thrones, did not fully rule out a rematch with Hall, but has admitted that for now, he has moved on. He said: "I’ve moved on, I told him good job, it was a hell of a fight. Congrats to him for all the hard work he’s been putting in."
Bjornsson added that he would only grant a rematch if Hall is desperate for it to happen. “I respect him (Hall) as an athlete but I just want to move on. Honestly I really wouldn’t want a rematch because I want to move on. I don’t really want to communicate with him. We’re not going to be best friends, that’s just a fact. But if he wants the rematch I’ll give it to him 100 per cent.”
