Dillian Whyte believes Tyson Fury is where he is today in part thanks to the work Whyte provided many years ago.

The Jamaican-born, London-based Whyte, who broke his media silence recently, said in an interview with Steve Bunce that Whyte, along with a few other heavyweights, were responsible for instilling in Fury the qualities that have made him a heavyweight champion.

Whyte was a stablemate and sparring partner for Manchester-based Fury back in 2012 and 2013.

The two fighters will now swap punches for pay this Saturday, April 23, at Wembley Stadium in London, where 94,000 spectators are reported to convene to see if Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will switch owners.

“His uncle Peter Fury is a very smart man,” Whyte told BT Sport. “He’s a very smart, intelligent man. He knew to build Tyson up to that level he needed good strong guys, resilient guys, tough guys, who didn’t care where they was, to push him. I was one of those guys, Eddie Chambers was one of those guys that they brought in to help him.”

Back then, Whyte said he got along well with Fury, which is no longer the case now. The two have a frosty relationship at best and that was even before the two went into negotiations for their fight. Both Whyte and Fury have tirelessly claimed that they beat up the other in sparring. Whyte removed himself from publicizing the event until last week, leaving Fury to try and promote the bout, mainly by taunting his former training mate.

“I spent a long time with him in Manchester…we spent a lot of time there, to Belgium, and we did them (training camps) in other places,” Whyte said. “Yeah, we spent a lot of time with each other. We knew each other quite well. I was cool with the guy. I never had no beef with him.

“Then all of a sudden – you know what Tyson’s like. He just starts going on, starts screaming, which I don’t understand. You’re a giant. You don’t need to go around shouting and screaming. You’re a big guy. Just be yourself. But he likes shouting and screaming. Him and his dad. I don’t get why.”

The heavyweight title bout between 33-year-old Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) and 34-year-old Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) will be presented on BT Box Office, the U.K. channel’s pay-per-view arm. The fight will air on ESPN+ pay-per-view in the afternoon in the U.S.