John Fury claims ‘conversation’ with Eddie Hall reveals MMA crossover opponent he wanted to fight

John Fury has now said that Eddie Hall wanted an MMA bout with one fighter ahead of the 2017 World’s Strongest Man’s boxing encounter with Tommy Fury.

Eddie Hall has only stepped into the boxing ring on one previous occasion after his clash with Icelandic strongman Hafthor Julius Bjornsson back in 2022.

Hafthor Julius Bjornsson defeated fellow strongman Hall by unanimous decision after six rounds in their clash at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai.

Following on from his 2022 exhibition fight, Hall will return to the squared circle for another non-sanctioned professional clash against Tommy Fury on Saturday.

John Fury was baffled by Eddie Hall wanting to fight Tyson Fury in an MMA fight

The Tommy Fury and Eddie Hall boxing match has been billed as ‘The Beauty vs. The Beast’ and the six-round fight will be held at the AO Arena in Manchester.

Tommy, who is the half-brother of former WBC champion Tyson Fury, last fought against Kenan Hanjalic and picked up a unanimous decision win in 2025.

Speaking to The W.A.D.E. Concept YouTube channel, John Fury was left deeply confused after Eddie Hall called for an MMA crossover fight with Tyson Fury.

“Me and Eddie [were] just having a conversation and he started going on about MMA,” he said.

“And I thought, you know what, I’m not interested in MMA if you’re not doing it. So, I tried to cut the conversation short and he kept saying, ‘You know, I’d like to get Tyson in an MMA ring and beat him up.’

“Well, I said, ‘What’s Tyson done to you?’ I thought he was joking, you know.

“Well, I said, ‘Listen, it’s never going to happen in an MMA ring and forget about boxing because he just annihilates you.’”

John Fury ruled out Tyson Fury fighting Eddie Hall and put up Tommy Fury in his place

Tyson Fury made the latest U-turn on his boxing retirement in 2026 and the 37-year-old British star defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov by unanimous decision in April.

John recalled how he shut down Hall’s desire to fight Tyson and instead argued that Tommy would put up a challenge for the former World’s Strongest Man in the ring.

“But I’ll tell you what, I’ve got a baby son, the smallest of us all, to beat you,” he added.

“He said, ‘That’s not happening. That will never happen in a million years.’

“Well, I said, ‘I’ll tell you, I’ll send you a contract tomorrow.’ And he had the contract, and here we are.”

Fury and Hall’s boxing match this weekend in Manchester will be staged under the Misfits Boxing banner, despite the massive weight difference separating the pair.