Daniel Geale (L) clocks Felix Sturm on his way to taking the German’s WBA middleweight title in 2012. Photo by Joern Pollex/Bongarts-Getty Images.

There is more sparring to be done, of the intense variety, as Daniel Geale counts down to a fight in which he is seen as an underdog, against Miguel Cotto on June 6 in Brooklyn.

The Aussie boxer, who got to New York on May 10, talked to THE RING and gave us some insight on where his head is at, and how he plans to handle the Puerto Rican legend.

“It’s been going well, I’ve been training hard,” the 34-year-old said of his work put in, in New Jersey, at the Global Boxing Gym. “I’m still doing weights and running, but I have more sparring to do as well. We’re getting good rounds in.”

And what of the rounds with Cotto? I have to assume there is a degree, if not relief, then at least slight assurance, that Cotto isn’t seen on surface to be the same sort of bomber that previous foe Gennady Golovkin is/was. Fair to say?

“Yeah, yeah,” the soft-spoken and humble hitter told me. “Golovkin is a big, strong middleweight and Cotto is coming up. But he has power as well.”

But of course …

Geale (31-3, 16 knockouts), 2-2 in his last four, beat Jarrod Fletcher after losing (TKO 3 to Golovkin) told me he’s watched, and re-watched, Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs; age 34) in against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Cotto lost UD 12 in May ’12). Floyd didn’t stand there, wait for the receipt, and Geale wants to do the same. He wants to box smartly, not be prone to mixing it up and giving the crowd at Barclays too much of their money’s worth, those that crave back and forth trading.

The underdog status is suiting him well, he told me. Most folks in NYC are coming up to wish him well, but he does sense people are thinking Cotto takes this clash. He’s fine with that, he said. He did maybe get caught up in a macho trading mindset against Golovkin, he admits, but he believes he can better stick to the gameplan vs. Cotto, who is gloving up for the first time in 2015.

I was curious, does that stoppage loss to Golovkin stick in Geale’s craw? To the point, say, that he didn’t want to watch Golovkin vs. Monroe on Saturday? Not at all, he told me. He wasn’t in front of a TV, but he plans to watch that scrap, because, he said, who knows, he might get another crack at the fighting pride of Kazahkstan. That loss is seen as a learning experience, he told me, and he doesn’t shrink from discussing it.

Geale told me his level of confidence is high, as it was heading into the Golovkin test. “In that fight, we knew what we needed to do but unfortunately, I didn’t stick to it,” he said. “This time I have to stick to it. I know Cotto will come at me hard, and I know the fans want me to stand and trade but that sort of fight does not suit my style. He wants me to stand and trade and I’m not gonna do that.”

One final measure of motivation for the hitter: baby girl Harper was born six weeks ago to wife Sheena. He’d love a win for her … and for the bank account. Geale has four kids and is well aware of tuition costs for college. An upset victory over Cotto would go far in funding.

Geale-Cotto will unfold at Barclays Center, in a Roc Nation/Gary Shaw promotion, and will screen on HBO.

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