Iranian Hulk has been toying with the feelings of many fans across the globe. Hulk, real name Sajad Gharibi, has been keeping buy promoting the boxing bout between himself and bodybuilder turned actor Martyn Ford.
The two are currently set to meet April 30th at the O2 arena – they will be headlining a card of Boxstar. Boxstar also booked Manchester United legend Patrice Evra for a celebrity boxing debut on the same card.
Gharibi has been talking about his feeling for Iran a lot as of late. The massive Iranian has been doing local tv shows and talking about his career prospects and addressing the speculations tied to his physique.
Gharibi was previously quoted saying he declined a great job opportunity in Europe because he’s an Iranian through and through. According to Gharibi:
“Firstly I must die if I endanger Iran’s reputation,” Gharibi said on Iranian TV. “Iran is my life and blood. I was sick in Dubai because I was so far away from Iran.”
“Iran is my love and life, I was born in Iran and will die here. I can’t think of living anywhere other than Iran. Some say ‘ you want to immigrate to England and become a refugee’ but it doesn’t make any sense. Since 2016 I have had many job offers from Dubai in body guarding, especially when I was heavy as they offered me $20,000 a month – but I didn’t want to go.”
Many side eye Gharibi’s antics because he does not appear to be taking the boxing match up seriously. At the Dubai face off earlier last month he even threw popcorn at his ginormous opponent.
Bare knuckle FC initially wanted to facilitate Gharibi’s combat sports debut but once Gharibi failed to prove his physique was authentic the promotion felt that collaborating with him would be more trouble than it’s worth during these pandemic times.
Ford has been going back and forth on Gharibi. Initially he claimed he didn’t want to be seen as a bully but at the same time he doesn’t want to take it easy on the Iranian.
For Ford, the stakes are particularly high considering he’s 39 – substantially older than his opponent. In addition to this, Ford already has interest from Hafthor Bjornsson into a match up so he’s likely eager to go full speed ahead.
Ford questioned Sajad Gharibi’s physique and willingness to show up so it’s likely he’ll seek out a back up opponent just in case considering the stakes are huge.
“I saw in the news that Martyn Ford was looking for a successor, another fight since I was not ready,” Gharibi told the media as per Mirror.
“When I heard this I realized what was going on. Our opponents did what they wanted they ruined my reputation on social media. If someone is guilty then it is okay, but the heart burns, whatever.”
30 year old Gharibi is adamant he’ll be able to beat Ford and predicted the boxing match will end 17 seconds after it begins via knock out.