Wrestler pulls 700-ton ship with only his teeth

Crowds in Hurghada, Egypt, were left stunned this weekend as wrestler and strongman Ashraf Mahrous — better known to fans as “Kabonga” — hauled a 700-ton ship across the Red Sea using nothing but a rope clenched between his teeth.

“I came today to break the world record,” declared Mahrous, 44, shortly after completing the feat at the Red Sea resort city.

Not stopping there, the Ismailia native went on to pull two additional ships with a combined weight of about 1,150 tons, cementing his reputation as one of the world’s most extraordinary strength performers.

“I pulled them both, thanks to God, to prove to my friends and the world that God has blessed me with the gift of being the strongest man alive,” he said.

The Guinness World Record for heaviest ship pulled by teeth currently stands at 614 tons, set in 2018. Mahrous plans to submit video evidence of his performance to Guinness for official verification.

Egyptian wrestler Ashraf Mahrous (Kabonga) celebrates with arms raised after pulling a 700-ton ship with his teeth. — Towering at 6-foot-3 and weighing 341 pounds, Mahrous trained for the moment with a hefty diet of a dozen eggs, two chickens, and 11 pounds of fish per day — all while training for two hours, three times a day. AP

Mahrous, who also serves as president of the Egyptian Federation for Professional Wrestlers, is no stranger to jaw-dropping feats. In the past, he has pulled a train, a locomotive, a truck, and even a 4,000-ton ship using his shoulders.

This time, however, he relied solely on his teeth. “I grunted and yelled as I pulled the ship. I even spoke to it, saying, ‘It’s either me or you today,’” Mahrous explained, describing his ritual of mentally connecting with the objects he moves.

Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous, also known as Kabonga, celebrates pulling a 700-ton ship across the water using only his teeth. — Mahrous, who is also president of the Egyptian Federation for Professional Wrestlers, has left crowds in awe before by pulling a train, a locomotive, and a truck. AP

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 341 pounds, Mahrous trains with a staggering regimen: three two-hour workouts a day, fueled by a diet of a dozen eggs, two chickens, and 11 pounds of fish daily. Despite the extreme strain on his teeth, he avoids dentists, instead protecting his mouth with a guard during stunts and cleaning his teeth with a traditional miswak twig.

Already a Guinness record holder for the heaviest rail and locomotive pulls, Mahrous has even bigger goals ahead. His next dream? Receiving presidential approval to drag a 263,000-ton submarine — and eventually, he says, to pull an airplane using only his eyelid muscles.

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