Dillian Whyte claims his heavyweight rival Tyson Fury’s real name is Luke and he changed it to sound "harder".
Fury will defend his WBC heavyweight title against Whyte in their highly-anticipated fight at Wembley on Saturday.
A sell-out crowd of 94,000 is set to watch the bout at the home of English football, which will be the largest attendance for a fight in the 21st century.
In the build-up to the fight, Whyte's camp has claimed to have proof that Fury switched his names round to sound more like heavyweight legend, Mike Tyson, who he is named after.
Advert
Whyte told The Sun: “My real name is Dillian. I know his real name is Luke.
“He changed it to Tyson to make himself sound harder. People can have a little look around on the internet and see for themselves.
“In boxing, the name Tyson is a lot more sellable than Luke.
Advert
“A lot of what Tyson does and says is a game, you can never take anything he says seriously or at face value.
“How can you trust a man who doesn’t even use his own name?”
In 2019, Fury met with heavyweight great Tyson and explained how he was named after him because of his father’s obsession with the American fighter.
“I’m named after Mike, yes. I’ll tell you how it happened,” Fury told Tyson on the HotBoxin’ Podcast.
“My dad was a professional boxer in the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s – a heavyweight and his hero was you.
Advert
“So when I was born August 12, 1988, I came into the world and I was eight weeks premature. I was dying, I wasn’t supposed to live.
“But when I lived my dad said I’m going to call you after my favourite heavyweight Tyson.
“The doctor said no that’s not going to be a good name, he’s not going to be very big this guy.
“When I was born, I only weighed one-pound in weight. I was tiny, but I grew up to be 6ft 9in and 265-pounds. It’s crazy.”
Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, Dillian Whyte, Heavyweight Boxing