By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fired back a response to challenger Sergio Martinez in retaliation to Martinez calling him a chicken recently in an interview at Boxeo de Primera.

Speaking with the record.com.mx, Chavez Jr. said “I believe that Martinez is a clown. He does not know what he is saying. On September 15th, he is going to realize that he made mistake…He is worried…He did not behave like this before.”

In the interview at Boxeo de Primera, Martinez said “Chavez, I’ll have to pluck your feathers…I’ll make you suffer.”

Chavez Jr. and Martinez are supposed to fight on September 15th in a pay-per-view bout that will be televised by HBO. However, don’t count on the fight taking place until you actually see Chavez Jr. in the ring with Martinez, because there’s still a chance that Chavez Jr. may back out and continue fighting softer opposition rather than facing Martinez.

Even Martinez has his doubts that Chavez Jr. will make it all the way to the fight without backing out. It’ll be great if Chavez Jr. takes the fight, but I have a feeling that something will come up that will erase the fight before September 15th.

Chavez Jr. defeated Andy Lee by a 7th round TKO in his last fight earlier this month in El Paso, Texas in a small ring. There are some boxing fans who wonder if the ring will be small for the Chavez Jr-Martinez fight on September 15th. A small ring will benefit the heavier Chavez Jr., whose game is centered around his body punching and inside fighting. Chavez Jr. is a good outside fighter, but not nearly as good as Martinez. Chavez Jr. will need to be able to cut off the ring on Martinez in order to win, and that obviously will be helped if the ring is as small as possible.