fisticuffs vs sparring

fisticuffs and sparring both are nouns.

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

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

fisticuffs: 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 fisticuffs include professional boxing, infighting, fight, rope-a-dope, spar.

fisticuffs (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
a fight with bare fists	an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage