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Dillian Whyte has responded to claims from Tyson Fury that he was bashed by the current WBC heavyweight champion in sparring.
Fury 31-0-1 (22) will defend his green belt against Whyte 28-2 (19) at London’s Wembley Stadium this Saturday night.
The sparring took place early in Whyte’s career while Fury had already established himself as a pro.
“I’ve sparred Dillian Whyte many, many times. And every single time I used him as a punching bag,” Fury told BT Sport.
“There were times when he couldn’t defend himself and there was a time where we had to stop the sparring and Hughie had to spar him, my cousin Hughie instead.
“Hughie was about 18 at the time and he used to batter him. All these stories of him knocking me down 25 times in sparring – highly unlikely anyone believes that rubbish.”
Whyte, who is coming off a revenge win over Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin, has responded to Fury’s claim.
“Tyson Fury has never knocked me out and never dropped me,” the 34-year-old Whyte told BT Sport. “Ask him about the rest of the sparring. I can hold my hands up. He’s never held his hands up and said I’ve never knocked him down or dropped him or anything like that. I’m holding my hands up and saying that Tyson Fury has never knocked me down or dropped me, ever.
“There have been times in sparring when he’s outboxed me because I had never had the experience. He was fighting the likes of Martin Rogan for championships when I had no fights.
“I was there for different things – I was learning and I was improving. I’m a realist, I get outboxed sometimes. I put my hands in their air.”
The 33-year-old Fury in coming off back-to-back knockout victories over former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder 42-2-1 (41). In their most recent fight in October, Wilder was down in rounds three, 10 and 11, while Fury was down twice in round four.
At 6-foot-9 Fury will have around a five-inch height advantage over Whyte, who believes he will be the stronger man come fight night.
“We’ll find out. I’m probably one of the strongest boxers to have ever lived,” Whyte said. “Physically, I’m one of the strongest to have ever lived in any area. And I’m not someone to talk lightly about these things. He’s a big guy. He’s taller than me and he’s this, that and everything than me.
“Tyson Fury is not the most physically strongest guy. I know that from being around. Look how long it took him to finish off Wilder. Wilder was done after three rounds. Wilder was breathing out of his arse after three rounds.”
Fury vs Whyte will be broadcast on BT Sport in the UK.
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