Andre Ward doesn’t appear to have any concerns over ring-rust for his March 26 light heavyweight clash with Sullivan Barrera on HBO, comparing himself to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his ability to adapt to any circumstances.

Ward has fought just three times since 2012 and is stepping up to light heavyweight for the first time in his professional career.

Still, he insisted that things are actually “slowing down” for him in the ring, that as he’s gotten older (31) he’s become more efficient “where there’s no unnecessary movement,” similar to Mayweather as he advanced in age.

“I think if a fighter stays in the gym, which we try to do year-round, I think you naturally start to evolve,” Ward said in a conference call on Wednesday to hype his bout at Oracle Arena in his hometown of Oakland, California. “And your game gets more and more seasoned where as you get older you get more efficient where there’s no unnecessary movement. And I think you saw that in Floyd’s career where he had a lot of movement at 135, 130, and when he went to 140 he settled down a little bit and then at 147 he was like that. Father time waits on no one. I just think naturally my game is evolving and I feel like I’m still in my prime and things are slowing down for me in the ring.”

Ward also maintained that he will be the sturdier fighter on March 26, despite it being his initial entrance at light heavyweight.

“Though he may look bigger and may have bigger muscles, I think he’s going to realize that he’s not stronger,” Ward said. “And I think he’s going to have to deal with speed that he never dealt with before and conditioning that he never dealt with before so there are adjustments that are going to have to be made on both sides.”

Ward made clear he is aware of the Tweets on Barrera’s account, in which the Cuban claimed that Ward was scared to face him. Ward is using the remarks, which he said were the making of someone else, as motivation, he says.

“He’s going to answer for everything that he said,” Ward said. “He’s going to be in there with a highly motivated fighter and it’s going to be a tremendous performance on March 26.”