Dillian Whyte has dismissed suggestions that he was knocked out or dropped by upcoming opponent Tyson Fury in old sparring sessions between the pair.

Fury, 33, and Whyte, 34, sparred with one another earlier in their careers, with Fury having said often in the build-up to Saturday’s main event that he dominated his compatriot in those encounters.

“Tyson Fury’s never knocked me out and never dropped me,” Whyte told The Independent columnist Steve Bunce in an interview with BT Sport this week.

“Ask him about the rest of the sparring. He’s never held his hands up and said: ‘I never knocked him down or dropped him or anything like that.’ But I can hold my hands up and say: ‘Tyson Fury’s never knocked me out, knocked me down, or dropped me ever.’

“There have been times in sparring where he’s outboxed me, because I never had no experience...”

One of the stories simmering in the way in the background as this fight edges closer is around Tyson Fury’s relationship to Daniel Kinahan. While Fury was not asked about the alleged crime boss on a conference call last week, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has addressed rumours of his own connection to the Irishman.

Kinahan was last week named as being a head of the Irish Kinahan crime gang and hit with worldwide financial sanctions by the United States government.

Sulaiman has said he has “at no time” had any relationship with Kinahan, who has acted as an advisor to Fury in the past.

The WBC boss said in a statement on Monday: “Whilst visiting Dubai recently I was introduced to Daniel Kinahan, who has since been placed on a sanctions list by the US Treasury Department, concerning alleged links to drug crimes.

“This has generated speculation and attacks on myself and the WBC. I therefore feel it necessary to make it clear that at no time have we had any relationship with Daniel Kinahan.”

More from Sulaiman here:

It will finally be Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in a very personal fight under the eyes of a global audience, writes Steve Bunce.

Fans will travel to London in hope, hate and belief to sit under the glowing bar that fills the gap between ring and sky at the stadium; they will be lucky witnesses to a night of history.

At some point close to 11pm, the night will be lit by 94,000 fanatics holding up their phones to create our unique boxing milky way of sparkles; then the flames will come. Everybody will feel the heat, trust me.

In the tunnels at Wembley, the first of the two fighters will have left his safe dressing room and will be shuffling to the point of entry, and also the point of no return; the other fighter will be in one last prayer huddle. Whyte will wait, Fury will pray.

There will be bedlam and howling as the music plays and the moment of contact moves ever closer. At last, the wait will nearly be over and the words will have long dried up in the mouths of all interested parties. Too much has been said. It will just be Fury and Whyte and 50 metres of distance to cover in the most important walk of their lives.

Read Steve Bunce’s fight preview in full, right here:

Tyson Fury’s father John has insisted that his son will not retire after Saturday’s fight with Dillian Whyte.

Tyson, 33, has spoken during the build-up to the all-British clash at Wembley Stadium about his plans to hang up the gloves regardless of the outcome of the bout. But John, Tyson’s father, insists he believes there is no chance of his son stepping away from the sport in the near future.

Speaking at Tuesday’s public workout, he said: “Ninety-four-thousand people change a man’s mind in a second. Where can you go after that? You can’t go back to normality, you can’t go picking your kids up from school, reading the paper, going for a coffee at Starbucks. You want that bit more.

“We’re alright for a few weeks, but I’m his dad and I know him better than anybody. It won’t be his last fight. No.

“He’s got [Oleksandr] Usyk and he’s got AJ [Anthony Joshua] yet, the winner of them two. That’s enough to bring any man back. And that’ll be another 100,000 crowd with the winner of them, so what’s he gonna do? Watch all that take place while sat at home drinking coffee? That’s not Tyson Fury.”

Tyson Fury: “It’s been a long, long, long fight journey and I’m back at home to celebrate the homecoming with all my fans.”

On tomorrow’s press conference, where he is set to go face-to-face with Whyte for the first time since the fight was announced: “It is what it is, I’ve seen plenty of boxers before, I’ve seen lots of Dillian Whyte before.

“We’ll see what tomorrow will bring, hopefully it’ll be a good press conference, and that’s it.

“I’m sure he has stuff he wants to say, I’ve always got a bit to say, as we all know.

“I’m looking forward to the fight and putting on a good show.

“At this stage, it doesn’t really matter what Dillian Whyte says or what I say; there’s gonna be a fight anyway.”

Tyson Fury on Dillian Whyte breaking his silence: “I’m happy because I don’t have to do all the work now, so I can step back and let him take over.”

“Lucky lefty man...” Fury jokes about doing his workout entirely from a southpaw stance.

“We all know I’m ambidextrous, I’ve had knockout wins with both hands, we’re just sharpening them up.”

Tyson Fury: “I thought it was good, I felt alright to be fair.

“Great support from everybody who took their time out today to watch me and the lads. I’m looking forward to the press conference and the fight night now.

“What can I expect? It’s a boxing fight, it’s nothing we haven’t felt before. We’ve been face-to-face before, it’s just another step along the journey.”