Martins Licis and Hafthor Björnsson, a.k.a. The Mountain, have both won the World’s Strongest Man competition in the past. Recently, Licis has been taking time off to rehab injuries, and Björnsson has switched gears to become a boxer. He was set to take on rival Eddie Hall in September 2021 until an injury forced Hall to bow out, and recently armwrestling champ Devon Larratt was tabbed to fill in as his opponent. Licis and Björnsson have recently been working out together, including a 15-lap running workout.
Licis recently shared a video of the pair hitting the boxing ring together in Björnsson’s native Iceland to try some sparring.
“It’s incredible seeing his progression… he’s like a totally different animal!” says Licis of Björnsson as he preps to get in the ring. “Before he was this stiff, heavy, lumbering strength machine. He’s slimmed down and kept a lot of that muscle, so he looks unreal… he’s going to be a scary beast to fight. I’m lucky I’m just going to throw some punches today.”
Licis also notes that this is his first time in the boxing ring before he steps in. He gets some instruction on footing and movement from Björnsson’s coach, and then the guys get to sparring.
At first, Licis is the only one throwing punches, with Björnsson simply fending him off and holding his ground as Licis gets his bearings.
“The fact that Thor can go and go… that’s exhausting! I want to puke!” says Licis as they take a break. “He has way more endurance than me.”
Then, they both start to throw punches, but not for very long…Licis burns out quickly.
“Martins is strong and weighs a lot, so just to have him lean on me and fight me a bit… it’s good for me to have this technique work,” says Björnsson.
And after sparring, the guys hit the Air Assualt bikes for more of a workout and final burnout. Licis later notes that while they both were throwing gut punches, he recently had an appendix surgery that wasn’t jiving with the hits. He also posted about the experience in the ring on Instagram.
“OUCH some of these hits hurt my appendix hole, I eventually had to step out 😆!” Licis shared on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSsWIBulad9/
A post shared by Martins Licis (@martinslicis)
At the end of the video, Licis notes that he was still so happy to do the workout.
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