Eddie Hall has astonishingly claimed he didn’t receive a penny for his fight with Thor Bjornsson.
British star Hall went toe to toe with his strongman nemesis Bjornsson in March 2022, in what was billed as the heaviest fight in boxing history.
The Icelandic giant won the grudge match, dropping Hall twice before claiming a points victory. Incredibly, Hall revealed neither he nor fellow World’s Strongest Man, Bjornsson, saw any of their multi-million-pound purses.
Speaking on the SHAWSTRENGTH Podcast, he said: “It stands for me and I believe it stands for Thor as well, we didn’t get paid anything from that fight. Nothing.
“Everything just fell through and the TV company that did the promotion for the fight just didn’t pay. They refused to pay.
“I’m going to say it because it’s true, it was p*ssy behaviour from the promoter. We had a choice to do pay-per-view and not know what we’d earn, or we could get this guaranteed money.
“It was nowhere near as much as you’d like, but it’s guaranteed. The guarantee was seven figures, and I thought we were making a mistake.
“I didn’t like the feeling of it and thought we could make more money doing the pay-per-view. We played it safe, did the fight, and then the broadcaster just went like crickets.”
Hall said he was unable to pay his trainer, who had spent countless weeks preparing him for the contest after the money fell through.
“They refused emails, didn’t take any calls, and ignored messages,” he continued. “Now and again an email would come through saying we’d get the money next month, and then next month came and went.
“I think it was about six months later that we took them to court. The bi-promoter won, but they were like, ‘What do you want us to do? We’ve got no money.'”
It’s unclear exactly how much Hall was supposed to pocket from the fight, but it’s understood the deal was well north of £1m.
Since the fight, Bjornsson hasn’t stepped foot in the ring again, despite calling out Tyson Fury for an exhibition.
Hall, however, has continued his venture into the world of combat sports. He recently competed in MMA, winning a bizarre 2 vs 1 cage fight, and is now eyeing a bout with fellow strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski.
Image credits: Jesse James West
