Tyson Fury has doubled down on his claim that he used Dillian Whyte as a "punching bag" in their sparring sessions.
The pair will meet in a bumper heavyweight title clash at Wembley on April 23 at with Whyte looking to snatch away Fury's WBC belt.
Fury and Whyte have sparred in the past with each heavyweight respectively claiming they enjoyed the upper hand in the sessions.
The 'Gypsy King' has now reiterated his stance and believes it is an irrelevant part of the build-up because "sparring isn't fighting".
"There is no substance to it him saying he knocked me down umpteenth times in sparring," Fury told BT Sport. "All of these stories of me getting knocked down in sparring, let's say he did knock me down eight times in sparring, we all know sparring isn't fighting.
"Some days you don't have good days in the gym, and just for the record he didn't knock me down once I have never been knocked down in a spar ever.
“I’ve sparred Dillian Whyte many, many times. And every single time I used him as a punching bag. 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.
"How many times have you seen people in the gym get absolutely busted up and then on fight night they boxed like Sugar Ray Leonard?"
Fury invited Whyte into his training camp to prepare him for his clash with Martin Rogan in 2012.
Whyte was significantly inexperienced compared to with Fury who reigned as the British and Commonwealth champion after defeating Derek Chisora.
The 'Body Snatcher' later returned to Fury's camp the 'Gypsy King' prepared for his ill-fated clash with David Haye.
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Whyte has been largely silent during the build-up to their upcoming professional clash, but the sessions threaten to become a narrative as their fight approaches.
After the noted sparring sessions took place the challenger gave a vastly different account of their encounters.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Whyte said: "He's the one that come out and said he beat me up in the gym and stuff like that. I can tell you now, that didn't happen.
"I don't like telling sparring stories, but people in the game know. They know about me. Well, me and Tyson Fury sparred and I bashed him about and dropped him on multiple occasions. Simple as that.
"If I was such an easy fight, why is he not in any rush to fight me? He said before beating Wilder, 'When I beat Wilder, I'm going to give Dillian Whyte his title shot.' He just talks rubbish. This is war, let's go."
