Eddie Hall has been accused of "bullying" his sparring partner and showing appalling technique after he shared a video of his latest 10-round sparring session.
The former World's Strongest Man is in training to fight bitter rival Hafthor Bjornsson - AKA 'The Mountain' from Game of Thrones - in a boxing match in September. Bjornsson made his in-ring debut in Dubai on Saturday.
However Hall's latest sparring footage provoked a negative reaction online. While it's labelled "technique sparring", Hall is landing some meaty blows to body and head, while his sparring partner - 6ft 5in Paddy - just paws back in response.
"Paddy shouldn't be a sparring partner, he's just getting hurt plus he's obviously scared of Eddie so it is useless for both of them," came one comment on YouTube.
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"Just feels like Eddie's bullying Paddy now. Get someone else in," demanded another.
Hall - who's lost five and a half stone since winning World's Strongest Man in 2017 - landed a body shot that caused his training partner Paddy to cough up blood last year.
In the latest video, Paddy is wearing headgear and a body protector. That seriously limits his ability to return fire, so any slow punches he throws back are easily dodged by Hall.
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But the 33-year-old Brit's boxing technique was also torn to pieces in the comments, with many pointing out that Hall looks slow, flat-footed and is holding his hands dangerously low.
"Flat footed with your hands down at your waist and a training partner that curls up into a ball every time you move forward," analysed one commenter.
"At the beginning of the video you said, 'I'm training to fight Tyson Fury,' and then you show that performance... either you are putting on an act or you are delusional."
Another fan commented: "This makes me sad and frustrated. It looks like week one day, day one. The coach must be scared to tell him to stop the terrible and dangerous habits he's got.
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"Zero footwork, zero defence, off balance when punching and wild, cocky swinging."
Another quoted Eddie Hall saying "Man up" and replied: "Easy thing to say when Paddy is baby tapping Eddie and Eddie is trying to punch the s**t out of his mate.
"I'm an Eddie fan honestly and want him to win this fight but [shrug]."
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Of course, Bjornsson is also a relative newcomer to the boxing world. So it might not be a total disaster if Hall isn't gliding around the ring with a Mayweather defence when the two mighty strongmen finally exchange punches later this year.
But it certainly seems like a lot of Hall's fans aren't liking what they're seeing from 'The Beast's training camp so far.
Featured image credit: YouTube/Eddie 'The Beast' Hall
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Boxing News, Eddie Hall, Boxing, Strongman, world's strongest man, Fight News, The Mountain, Hafthor Bjornsson