THE RING’s No. 1-rated junior welterweight Lucas Matthysse spoke to RingTV.com about his ongoing sparring with WBO 147-pound beltholder Tim Bradley, which he said began on Monday and could continue through Sept. 6.

Matthysse (34-2, 32 knockouts) will be in pursuit of his seventh straight stoppage when he attempts to dethrone RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia on Sept. 14.

Garcia-Matthysse is the co-feature to the Floyd Mayweather-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez junior middleweight championship at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime Pay Per View.

Meanwhile, Bradley (30-0, 12 KOs) will face four-division titlewinner Juan Manuel Marquez on Oct. 12 on HBO Pay Per View from Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Matthysse will be a VIP at the Sept. 7 clash between heavyweights Seth Mitchell and Chris Arreola at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Calif., where he will meet and greet fans.

On whether the sparring with Bradley encourages him to one day fight as a 147-pounder:

“I liked the sparring with Bradley. It was a very good session, and a very tough session, but it was strictly to gain speed. That was what it was for, to gain speed.”

On how the sparring with Bradley can help him to prepare for Garcia this close to the fight:

“Again, it’s to gain speed. We need to work on the speed, and it was hard work. We had another sparring partner, and we keep changing.”

On whether there are similarities between Bradley and Garcia:

“There are no similarities. They each have their own way of fighting, I guess. Honestly, we’re not looking for the similarities in Bradley that might be the same as Garcia.

“Why? Because the only thing I’m looking for is to gain more speed and strength to add to my power. I have had sparring with different guys to get some different views.

“That’s my work ethic. I don’t like to work with the same guys, the same guys, over and over. I don’t think I’ll learn that way. So the sparring has to be different.”

On whether he is able to cut off the ring versus Bradley:

“Yes. I did. I did pretty good. That was my intention, as I have said, to gain more speed and to be able to use more power.”

On how he expects to spar with Bradley over the next few days:

“Hopefully, we can still help him and he can still help me. We went today, Friday, and then, we’ll go again on Monday. Next week, we’ll finish on Friday of next week.”

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

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]