Joe Rogan recently offered some critiques of the striking technique that Eddie Hall has shown so far. Now the Beast responds, and also answers some questions about this relationship with Hafthor Bjornsson.
For the last several months, Hall has been training vigorously for his September boxing match against rival and fellow strongman Hafthor Bjornsson. Throughout that time, he has gotten into tremendous physical condition, undergoing a pretty radical weight loss, while also working to hone his technique.
However this boxing match was recently the topic discussion for Joe Rogan and Mat Fraser, when the pair did a podcast together. Speaking on the subject, they brought up footage of Eddie hitting mitts and sparring, as well as Thor’s exhibition match, and Joe did not hold back on his criticisms for either man’s skills thus far.
“That’s not good. Right away we’re seeing that we have a real problem. Yeah, this is terrible. He’s very rudimentary, but also you see that his body is very stiff,” Rogan said, while watching Hall training.
“Looking at him sparring there, he’s just not moving so good… This is super stiff. He’s throwing these punches with his arms. These are arm punches, almost like he shouldn’t be hitting things.”
Eddie Hall caught wind of these comments, and decided to respond. While doing a Q&A for his YouTube channel, the retired strongman was asked about what Joe Rogan said, and he opted to give his thoughts.
For the most part, Eddie does not take this personally, understanding that Joe is only looking at a small portion of the picture. That said, he plans on proving Joe wrong when he steps into the ring this September.
“I love Joe Rogan, I absolutely do love Joe Rogan. I watch a lot of his stuff… Look man, people can speculate, they can make assumptions, they can guess, they can do whatever they want, but I’m knocking Thor out. There’s no doubt in my mind,” Hall said.
“So, people can say whatever they want. I take no offense to Joe Rogans comments. He’s an experienced guy, he knows what he’s talking about, but he doesn’t know the full picture. You look at a few clips, you can’t make assumptions from that.
“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest, it doesn’t put me off,” Hall added. “I hope it gives Thor more confidence because he needs it. He’s in deep trouble. And I’d still love to go on the Joe Rogan show and tell him a story for everyone to hear. Honestly, no offense taken by Joe Rogan and just move on and let (my hands) do the talking.”
Can Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson Be Friends Again?
That was another question posed to Eddie Hall from one of his fans, as the pair used to be quite close. This changed when they had a falling out over Hafthor accusing Eddie of essentially cheating him out of a World’s Strongest Man victory, which started the beef that has ultimately led to this fight.
For Eddie, there is not really any hope of the two having any real reconciliation, even after the fight. While he may be willing to shake Thor’s hand, he feels that the damage is done, and the trust between them has been completely broken.
“That’s irreparable. Three, four years now with a big cloud over my World’s Strongest Man win, and what’s that cost me in terms of my career, him putting that horrible black cloud over my win, and he just doesn’t care,” Hall said.
“I’ve still not had an apology off him, he still believes he was robbed. There’s no denying that, he keeps putting the stories out and keeps saying it on podcasts… At the end of the day, if he had solid evidence for something, bring it up. He’s full of s—.
“Thor is not my friend. He was, and I can safely say even with an apology, I could shake his hand and accept an apology but I don’t want to go out and break bread with this man, that’s for sure.”
Friends or not, it is going to be exciting to see Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall settle their beef in the boxing ring this fall. Both men have been working hard, and time will tell who has the better skills, come fight time.