The Bear Hug is Bear Hugger's signature move. He swings both his arms in a hugging motion in order to pummel his opponent. The only way to avoid this attack is to duck.
The damage of the attack varies depending on the game. In the arcade version of Super Punch-Out!!, it was a one-hit knockdown, while in the SNES version of Super Punch-Out!!, it was much weaker, most likely due to him being the second opponent in the game.
The Bear Hug is also used in the new Punch-Out!! for the Wii, where it is more powerful then the SNES attack, but not powerful enough to be a one-hit KO. Sometimes, in Title Defense, he says an alternative line, "Catch and Release!", meaning that it will be a delayed but stronger attack.
In Title Defense Mode, Bear Hugger's squirrel will tell if he'll fake this attack. If he does fake it, the player can hit him after he leans forward to earn a star.