Deontay Wilder was once ‘knocked out cold’ and left ‘twitching’ by Wladimir Klitschko in sparring, Dillian Whyte claims

Dillian Whyte says he saw Wladimir Klitschko once knock former WBC champion Deontay Wilder ‘out cold’ during a sparring session.

Having held the WBA, WBO and IBF titles for years, the Ukrainian, along with his brother, became one of the most dominant heavyweights in history.

2

Vitali Klitschko held the WBC version and they famously refused to meet his brother – meaning the division started to stagnate.

Upon Vitali’s retirement, the green and gold strap was eventually wrapped around the waist of the ‘Bronze Bomber’, although a fight to determine the best in the world and crown an undisputed champion never materialised.

And Whyte, who regularly trained alongside ‘Dr Steelhammer’, has offered an insight as to why this might have happened.

Echoing the sentiments of Tyson Fury, the Brit revealed Klitschko comprehensively got the better of Wilder during sparring sessions.

Klitschko liked to draft in rising heavyweights towards the end of his career to his gruelling training camps at the remote Stanglwirt resort in Austria and used to dish out punishment on a regular basis.

2

“I've seen [Wilder] getting knocked out,” Whyte said. “Wladimir knocked him out.

“He knew what happened. He had his hands up. He was roughing Wlad up, bringing the smoke, and he was going wild.

“It wasn't no knockdown, he was knocked cold. Properly twitching as well.

“That's why they probably didn't want him to fight Wlad, because Wlad was going to fight him as a pro and Wilder never fancied it the whole time.”

More recently, Whyte has taunted Wilder as he hopes to secure a fight with the heavyweight star.

He said: “I would love to smash Deontay Wilder’s face in.

“It’s one of those fights where I would be very charged up. I would go out in the first round and just get going after him.

“It is frustrating, but it’s still a big name. He’s one of the top guys and I would love to fight him.

“He has to be serious. We offered him six, seven million dollars once and he turned it down when he was making one million dollars to fight Luis Ortiz.

“How serious is he?”

Whyte added: “When people mention Deontay Wilder’s name to me, I just get stressed. It’s crazy, because once again someone else wants to fight me.

“[Joseph] Parker didn’t want to fight me when he had the title. I tried to fight him, no. Lucas Browne, I tried to fight him, no. All of these guys.

“Deontay Wilder, I tried to fight him when he was champion. No. Now they’ve all lost, they want to fight me after.

“If they lose, they get paid well, if they win, they’re back in the frame. These guys have got no respect.”