Matthysse (34-2, 32 knockouts) will attempt to earn the WBA and WBC belts in his clash with Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), and the winner of their anticipated fight could be a potential opponent for Mayweather.

Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs), THE RING welterweight champ, will face the magazine’s junior middleweight champion Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs), who also owns the WBC’s 154-pound title.

“I’ve heard that the winner between me and Garcia might be fighting Mayweather,” said Matthysse, who scored three knockdowns during a third-round stoppage of IBF 140-pound beltholder Lamont Peterson in May.

“Now, the winner is going to be me, so I don’t think I’ll have any problems at 147 pounds, because I have to do a special job and a different sort of training to get the power at 147, but I will have the power there as well.”

During his last fight in April, Garcia scored an eighth-round knockdown on the way to a unanimous decision over ex-beltholder Zab Judah, whom Matthysse dropped in the 10th round of a 12-round split-decision loss in November of 2010.

Matthysse has a 4-2 record, with four knockouts against six current or former titleholders, having floored all of them, including DeMarcus Corley, whom he dropped nine times on the way to an eighth-round stoppage in January of 2011.

Matthysse also has knocked out Vivian Harris and Humberto Soto in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. Matthysses losses were by split-decision to left-handers Judah, a two-divsion beltholder, and Devon Alexander, who currently holds the IBF’s 147-pound belt.

“You know, what? Danny Garcia is a very strong fighter compared to the rest of the guys that I’ve faced. I can’t compare him to Zab Judah or Devon Alexander or Lamont Peterson, who are boxers, because Garcia’s a real brawler who comes directly to the fighter,” said Matthysse.

“You can see that his feet are planted on the canvas and he’s right there. Alexander and Judah, they are so much different fighters. Danny Garcia is just a brawler. He’s not a boxer. He wants to explode his power, and that’s it. He likes to exchange big punches, so he’s strong, and that’s all that I see about him. I don’t see anything special about him. So I don’t fear him. I can handle his power.”

Note: Matthysse’s interview was translated by Golden Boy’s Ramiro Gonzalez.

MANNY PACQUIAO-BRANDON RIOS TICKETS ON SALE

Tickets will go on sale on July 29 in China, and July 28 in the western hemisphere, for the Manny Pacquiao–Brandon Rios welterweight fight, whose first stop of a seven-city press tour was completed on Saturday at the Venetian Ballroom at the Venetian Macao in Macau, China.

Tickets, priced from $1,275 to $115, and various ticket-hotel packages at Sands China’s Cotai Strip Resorts Macao go on sale this Monday, July 29, at 10 a.m. local time (Sunday, July 28, at 10 p.m. ET). Boxing fans can purchase tickets online and get complete information at www.venetianmacao.com/manny.

Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 knockouts) and Rios (31-1, 23 KOs) are in the midst of a seven-city, international press tour in advance of their welterweight bout scheduled for Nov. 24 in Macau, China (Nov. 23 in the western hemisphere).

The jaunt will have stops in Beijing and Shanghai as well as the Marina Bay Islands of Singapore before going to Bristol, Conn., New York City, and finally Los Angeles on Aug. 8.

Pacquiao, who turns 35 in December, will face Rios in an attempt to rebound from consecutive losses, by disputed split-decision to WBO beltholder Tim Bradley and sixth-round knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez, last year.

Rios, who tuned 27 in April, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mike Alvarado in a rematch of Rios’ seventh-round stoppage win last October.

Manny Pacquiao versus Brandon Rios press tour
(All Times local)

MONDAY, JULY 29
Fighters Tour Beijing

TUESDAY, JULY 30 at 12:30 P.M.
Press Conference
Park Hyatt Beijing – Courtyard 1

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 at 12:30 P.M.
Press Conference
Four Seasons Shanghai – Ballroom 1

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3
Private Event
Marina Bay Sands Singapore

MONDAY, AUGUST 5
Fighters Visit ESPN
ESPN Headquarters, Bristol, Conn.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 at 3:00 P.M. ET
New York Press Conference
Jong Fong Restaurant
20 Elizabeth St.
(South of Canal St., between Canal & Baynard Sts.)
New York, NY 10013

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 at Noon PT
Los Angeles Press Conference
The Beverly Hills Hotel – Crystal Ballroom
9641 Sunset Blvd.
Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]