Eddie Hall has seen more strongmen up close than most people in twenty lifetimes.
Hell, he was crowned the World’s Strongest Man himself back in 2017 and also became the first person in history to break the 500kg deadlift ceiling. So, when it comes to strength, it’s safe to say that The Beast is an expert on the subject.
However, when asked to name the pound-for-pound strongest person he’s ever laid eyes on, Hall didn’t hesitate – but his answer may surprise you.
Appearing on Rob Moore’s Disruptors podcast, Hall was quizzed on who he thought truly stood above the rest in terms of sheer strength relative to bodyweight. Moore asked: “Who is – Pound for pound – the strongest person you’ve ever seen, pound for pound?”
With hardly a moment’s consideration, Hall confidently replied: “I’m going to go with a gentleman called Ed Coan.”
That name caught Moore off guard. “Ah, that surprises me. I thought you might say Magnús [Ver Magnússon]. He’s a bit of a beast, isn’t he?”
Hall was only happy to educate Moore on Coan, saying: “No. No, no, no. So, Ed Coan — yeah, give him a Google. Ed Coan, f***ing phenomenal powerlifter from back in the day. I’m sure he weighed something like 70 kilos and he was deadlifting 420.
“Like, just the most ridiculous pound-to-bodyweight ratio you’ve ever seen. So, I’m going to say the pound-for-pound strongest man that’s ever been is Ed Coan.”
When Moore pressed Hall on what made Coan so uniquely powerful, Hall gave a mix of science and psychology, saying: “Dedication, firstly. Having that mindset of pushing the boundaries, but a little bit of genetics, you know — good bone structures, good cartilage strength, and everything else. Long arms, you know, to help you lift longer off the floor.
“But mainly, I would just say mindset. Just a bloke that’s like, ‘Right, I’m going to do something so drastically different to everybody else and push the boundaries harder than everybody else.’ Putting those extra hours in the gym, eating those extra bits of, you know, meat and proteins and whatever else. So that’s what sets apart a champion from a loser — is mindset.”
Who Is Ed Coan?
Edward “Ed” Ignatius Coan is widely regarded as the greatest powerlifter to have ever lived — a man whose strength defied physics, proportion, and belief. Standing just 5’6” tall and weighing around 220 pounds, Coan routinely outlifted athletes more than 100 pounds heavier, setting records that still command awe decades later.
Born and raised in Chicago, Coan’s journey into strength began not with elite coaching or a professional setup, but in his basement. Starting with makeshift iso-kinetic cords and an old Olympic weight set, he taught himself the fundamentals of lifting using Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Education of a Bodybuilder. After moving on to the Chicago Health Club in his teens, his raw power became impossible to ignore. Inspired by Strongman legend Bill Kazmaier, Coan started training specifically for powerlifting — and within six months, he was squatting 500 pounds.
At just 16, Coan entered his first novice powerlifting meet, weighing under 150 pounds. The squat racks were too tall for him, so spotters had to lower the bar onto his back. Despite that, he squatted 485 pounds, benched 295, and deadlifted 495 — the beginnings of a historic career.
By 21, Coan was already an IPF world champion in the 180lb class, with a total lift of 1,929 pounds. From there, he became an unstoppable force. Over the span of his career, Coan set more than 70 official and 30 unofficial world records, earning world titles in four different weight classes and dominating the sport from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s.
His peak came in December 1998 at the USPF World Championships, where Coan — competing at just 220 pounds — totaled 2,463 pounds, becoming the lightest man ever to surpass the 2,400-pound barrier. His competition bests included a 1,019 lb (462.5 kg) squat, 573 lb (260 kg) bench press, and 901 lb (408.7 kg) deadlift — numbers that still stand among the greatest in powerlifting history.
But perhaps his most legendary performance came earlier, in 1991 in Dallas, Texas, when he totaled 2,402 pounds (squat 962, bench 545, deadlift 901). That mark was a staggering 14.5% higher than the world’s best at the time — an almost unthinkable leap in a sport measured by the smallest of margins.
Coan’s strength was matched only by his mindset. His work ethic was relentless, his discipline unwavering. Even after suffering a torn ACL in 2002 during a 970lb squat attempt, his first instinct wasn’t for himself — it was for the other competitors: “Move me out of the way so someone else can lift.”
Coan’s legacy as perhaps the greatest powerlifter in history — with over 70 world records to his name — clearly left a lasting impression on Hall.
For a man who’s competed against the likes of giants like Hafthor Björnsson and Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall’s nod to Ed Coan as the pound-for-pound strongest certainly says a lot. Sometimes it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
Featured image credit: YouTube/RobMoore (screenshots)
