Thor Bjornsson has promised he would "smash" Martyn Ford after the Brit mocked him for being "too soft" ahead of his fight with Eddie Hall.
Bjornsson proved doubters wrong when he out-boxed his former strongman rival and earned victory by unanimous decision in Dubai on Saturday night. And it appears that he will look to fight again after falling in love with the sport during his two-year experience training to face Hall.
And that next fight could potentially end up being against Ford, assuming the 'World's Scariest Man' can get through his debut with a win over the 'Iranian Hulk' Sajad Gharibi next month. Ford said before Bjornsson's fight that he had been too high-strung in the build-up, and claimed the giant Icelander was "too soft" for boxing, which backfired when he dropped his fellow Brit Hall twice on route to a big win.
“Thor has been very edgy the last two days," Ford told iFL TV in an interview ahead of the grudge match. "Like I said before this fight, I was like, I think Thor is too soft. I think he has just not got that ‘(signalling energy).’”
And Bjornsson has responded to the jibe, telling Boxing King Media that he would be willing to face the bodybuilder as his boxing career continues. "I disagree," he said of Ford's claim that he would win a prospective match up. "I think I'd smash him."
He also believes that Ford will defeat Gharibi, saying that the Iranian doesn't look in shape to take the fight past one round. "I think Martyn Ford is going to win that fight," he continued. "The other guy doesn't look in shape at all.
"I don't know the guy but from the pictures I've seen he looks big. He doesn't look like he has the endurance to go more than one round in my opinion. But I don't know, we'll see, I've seen some bits of Martyn Ford, he looks okay."
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Bjornsson now has a series of options for his next bout, including a prospective rematch with Hall. The pair surprised many fans with their durability over the six rounds, where they both had to get off the canvas on multiple occasions after being dropped by their rival.
He could also continue with exhibition bouts against professional boxers with big names or celebrities, although finding other 6'9" men who weigh in the region of 330lb is likely going to be a struggle. Bjornsson has indicated that he would be willing to rematch Hall, although he would rather cut all ties with his former rival.
"I respect him as an athlete," he said of Hall in a post-fight video blog. "But I just want to move on and honestly, between us, I wouldn't really want the rematch because I don't want to communicate with him even though I've moved on. I wouldn't say that we're going to be best buddies, this is a fact."
