Eddie Hall shares the illegal move he needs to leave behind ahead of his switch back to boxing

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Tommy Fury warns Eddie Hall about holding ahead of their June fight

Eddie Hall has been warned that he will need to clean up his clinching if he wants to avoid a disqualification against Tommy Fury.

Hall, the 2017 World’s Strongest Man, has been training in MMA for the past two years and won his debut within seconds in 2025. Now, he’s returning to boxing for the first time since 2022 when he faces Fury at the AO Arena in Manchester on June 13.

The fight comes three years after his only professional bout – a six-round decision loss to Hafthor Bjornsson – and two years after he had a public spar with Jordan Suckley.

But it’s safe to say that Hall is not exactly used to boxing rules. And Tommy made sure to point this out when talking about what fans can expect from their fight on {{LINK_TOMMY_FURY_EDDIE_HALL}}, telling iFL TV:

“It depends how serious Eddie takes it. I think you’ll see a lot of hugging because as soon as I land anything clean, he will want to tie up.”

Eddie Hall must give up knees in the clinch for boxing debut

Even with all the crossover between sports in recent years, there’s still a huge gap between the training and movement required for boxing compared to MMA. One of the main differences is how fighters work within the clinch. In MMA, it’s not only legal but also encouraged, whereas boxing has much stricter rules around it.

Hall had spent years preparing to use his size advantage in KSW by throwing knees and attacking the body, but those tools won’t be available against Fury – especially given Fury’s history of pulling out of a fight with Darren Till over concerns about being kicked.

Speaking to Bloody Elbow about adapting back to boxing, Hall said: “It’s been tough. MMA is a completely different ballgame. Two days a week of jiu-jitsu, two days of standing and fighting and using your feet as well obviously for head kicks and body kicks or whatever.

“So it’s been tough to transition back. You’ve got to forget some things, I’m quite used to getting into the clinch and kneeing someone in the ribs.”

“I’ve actually done it once or twice in sparring recently and I’ve got to get it out of my head. I’m boxing now, not doing MMA… There’ll be no kicks from me, trust me.”