Wladimir Klitschko has sparred Deontay Wilder and a video of the two going at it has resurfaced this week after persistent claims from Dillian Whyte that the former knocked the latter out.

Whyte is currently waiting for his fight with WBC world champion Wilder as a mandatory challenger.

Maybe as a method to wind up the American, ‘The Bodysnatcher’ has continually revealed that he witnessed the Ukrainian knock out Wilder, with a punch that left the champ 'twitching'.

Klitschko, of course, retired after his defeat to Anthony Joshua in a mammoth fight at Wembley Stadium in April 2017, that proved to be only his fifth defeat in 69 contests of a storied career.

The Ukrainian was asked who, between Joshua and Wilder, had the biggest punch after experiencing both fighters in the ring. He aired the views of most boxing fans of the contemporary heavyweight division by stating the two need to get it on.

“It’s between Wilder and Joshua to find out who’s the man.

“I definitely have been for a long time a fan of Joshua. I’ve had both of them in the training camp – Wilder and Joshua. I’ve sparred with Wilder and sparred and fought with Joshua.

“I definitely have a very close relationship with Anthony. I want him to succeed because the more he shines the more I shine, to be honest. “But as I said, no disrespect to Deontay. He’s been a great guy in the camp and he’s a tremendous fighter. As I said it’s a tough pick but let’s hope to see that fight.

“Any person that is 200lbs or more can [hit]. The person that is capable to box trust me, he is going to be hard enough,” he added.

The only thing that remains of the sparring sessions that took place as long as eight years ago is just a brief GIF.

There is a longer video out there, containing footage of Wilder in one of Klitschko’s camps and perhaps more content will see the light of day in the future.

Dillian Whyte certainly hopes so, and he told Sky Sports: “I’ve seen him getting knocked out. Wladimir knocked him out.

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

“Wlad backs up and changes his footwork. Feinting, feinting, jabs to the body then throws that feint jab, left hook. Wilder had his hands up, he was gone.

“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.”

Wilder and Whyte are picking up some steam in terms of a rivalry ahead of the mandatory situation for the WBC belt. It has been almost two-and-a-half years since Whyte earned the right to be number 1 contender for Wilder’s belt.

The WBC has earmarked a deadline of February 2021 for the pair to meet in the ring, provided that both win their fights in the intervening period.