controversy vs sparring

controversy and sparring both are nouns.

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

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

controversy: a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
sparring: an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage

Other hyponyms of controversy include argle-bargle, argy-bargy, firestorm, polemic, fight.

controversy (noun)	sparring (noun)
a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement	making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer
	an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage