boxing vs sparring

boxing and sparring both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
boxing	Yes	No	No	No
sparring	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, sparring is a hyponym of boxing; that is, sparring is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than boxing:

boxing: fighting with the fists
sparring: making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer

Other hyponyms of boxing include professional boxing, infighting, fight, rope-a-dope, spar.

boxing (noun)	sparring (noun)
fighting with the fists	making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer
the enclosure of something in a package or box	an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage