Eddie Hall battled Covid-19 just three weeks before his grudge fight with former strongman rival Thor Bjornsson.
Hall and Bjornsson, who fight in Dubai this Saturday night, have a rivalry dating back to when they both competed in the World's Strongest Man competition in 2017 as Hall accused the Game of Thrones star of intentionally cheating at the event.
The strongmen duo were supposed to fight last September, but Hall suffered a bicep tear which cancelled the fight. Hall, who has never stepped in the ring before, detailed his battle with Covid-19 which is still taking its toll on his chest just days out from the fight.
"Three weeks ago, this is probably a surprise to a lot of people and again it's not an excuse, I came down with Covid. You can hear it on my chest now, but I'm not using it as an excuse and I'm coming into this fight all guns blazing," he said.
"I'm feeling really good, no concerns at all. I've got all my prep down, no stone unturned from me. As I say, I'm not gonna sit here and make a single excuse win draw or lose, whatever happens I'm going to give it my all.
"My prep's been phenomenal and like I did for World's Strongest Man, I gave 100 per cent to this. As I say I tore my bicep, but it was a little blip in my training. It was like having the s**** for a week and I was back training after.
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Hall stepped on the scale at 142kg for the fight whilst Bjornsson weighed in considerably heavier at 152kg. Bjornsson, who also had Covid earlier this year, expects Hall to try and take him out in the first round but is ready for any game plan his opponent will bring.
"I am expecting him to be wild, throw big hooks," Bjornsson told Mirror Fighting. "He will be square on and I am expecting him to go all in the first round. Even though I expect that I am ready for anything, he might come in with a totally different game plan because he knows what I think.
"Maybe he is going to come in like a bullet and try to land straight away. I guess it is just a wait and see what happens. I have been training against different fighters, novice and professional. Good amateurs too. The reason I wanted a beginner is because I wanted to know how it is to go against someone who doesn’t have the experience a professional has."
