Latest news with #JulioCesarChavezJr
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Arrested by ICE for Deportation Just Days After Losing Jake Paul Fight
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Arrested by ICE for Deportation Just Days After Losing Jake Paul Fight originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., son of Boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez, has had a boxing career of his own plagued by legal troubles, substance abuse, and unfulfilled potential. Once hailed as the heir to his legendary father's boxing throne, the former WBC middleweight champion had the chance at redemption if he were to defeat YouTube star-turned-fighter Jake Paul on June 29. Advertisement Unfortunately for Chavez Jr., Paul was victorious and gained a WBA ranking in the process. Just four days after losing his high-profile boxing match to Paul, Mexican Chavez Jr. was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Studio City, California, on July 2. The 39-year-old now faces deportation to Mexico, where an active arrest warrant accuses him of involvement in organized crime and weapons trafficking. He was arrested for overstaying his B2 tourist visa, which expired in February 2024. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleged he was also arrested due to his ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug-trafficking organization designated as a terrorist group by the Trump administration. Advertisement The DHS posted on X news of Chavez Jr.'s arrest along with a chilling message, which read, 'Under President Trump, NO ONE is above the law—including world-famous athletes. Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.' Chavez Jr.'s attorney, Michael Goldstein, spoke to Associated Press and accused authorities of using the boxer's fame to stoke fear in immigrant communities. Chavez is now in ICE custody awaiting expedited removal to Mexico, where he could face prosecution on organized crime charges. His deportation would close a tumultuous chapter for a boxer whose life, inside and outside the ring, has been a mix of fleeting glory and self-inflicted turmoil. Related: Jake Paul's Ranking Exposes Everything Wrong With Modern Boxing Related: Jake Paul's Most Accomplished Opponent Yet Issues Stern Warning Ahead of June 28 Boxing Match This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Irish Times
ICE, the drug cartel and human punching bags - the extraordinary fall of a Mexican world boxing champion
The torture methods of the Sinaloa cartel are varied, numerous and specifically tailored to send fear rippling through communities they rule over in Mexico and beyond. Those who fall foul of their criminal regime get corkscrews twisted into their flesh to extract the muscles, hot chilis placed in the open wounds, and are sometimes fed to the leaders' pet tigers. The cruelty is the point. There are instances of waterboarding, electrocution and, in some cases, prisoners hung upside down to be used as live human punching bags by one-time WBC world middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr. Evidence of Chávez Jr's sadistic side hustle was allegedly picked up by the Fiscalía General de la República (Mexico's attorney general's office) when it tapped the phones of Nestor Ernesto Perez Salas, a Sinaloa linchpin better known as 'El Nini'. Between December 2021 and June 2022, El Nini was heard on intercepts issuing directives about a punishment to be meted out to men who had failed to carry out orders. It involved them being strung up and pounded upon by somebody whose career resume includes victories over the Irish trio of Andy Lee, John Duddy and Oisin Fagan. And who happens to be the son of Mexico's most beloved fighter, the fabled Julio César Chávez. At a sold-out Honda Center in Anaheim, California on the last Saturday night in June, Chávez Jr, in his more humdrum day job, took on the self-styled YouTube legend Jake Paul in a 10-round cruiserweight contest. After the usual surfeit of puerile trash talking in the build-up and a Mariachi band playing in his dressing-room beforehand, he won a single round while losing a one-sided contest that, somehow, cost $59.99 (€51) on DAZN pay-per-view. At 39, more than a decade removed from his prime, the Mexican earned $750,000 for playing the role of game patsy in Paul's sustained attempt to gain some measure of fistic credibility. Four days later, Chávez Jr was riding an electric scooter near his home in the upscale Los Angeles neighbourhood of Studio City when 25 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents blocked off the street and converged upon him. In footage that has emerged of his arrest, he cuts a bemused figure, standing by a police car in handcuffs with a chain around his waist. Whisked away, he was slated for expedited deportation without even getting the opportunity to alert his wife, Frida Muñoz, an American citizen who is the widow of Édgar Guzmán López, favourite son of the infamous and currently imprisoned Joaquín Guzmán aka 'El Chapo'. READ MORE Julio César Chávez Jr at a press conference two days before his fight against Jake Paul in Anaheim, California on June 28th. Photograph:The great Julio César Chávez was coming towards the end of his own epic career of 107 wins, six defeats and two draws when his 17-year-old child and namesake, who had been doing ring walks with him since childhood, made his victorious pro debut in Culiacán in 2003. The kid's progress was carefully managed thereafter, his name considered box-office gold. A path to the middleweight title was eventually carved out for him by his godfather, WBC president José Sulaimán, who controversially yanked the middleweight belt away from incumbent Sergio Martínez in 2011. He successfully defended the title three times, including a 7th-round stoppage of Lee , before Martínez wrested back his rightful crown. Aside from a unanimous decision defeat by Canelo Álvarez, Chávez Jr's career then degenerated as he battled drink, abused Adderall and Xanax, struggled to make weight, and failed mandatory dope tests. A devalued currency as a fighter, he went to jail for drunk driving and was arrested in California last year while carrying two AR-15-style ghost rifles (weapons with serial numbers shaved off). There have also been disturbing livestreams in which he's had public spats with his wife and family, making wild accusations about attempted kidnappings of his children. His own father's later career was also pockmarked by alcoholism and drug addiction before he eventually opened a rehab facility to help others. Fearful his son might die, Chávez the elder once staged an intervention and forced him into his treatment facility against his will. Ironically, many of the patients there are trying to get off Fentanyl, the very pills from which the Sinaloa cartel has made billions and drawn the attention of the US government. Julio César Chávez Jr in the ring in Las Vegas, Nevada after knocking down Sergio Martínez on September 15th, 2012. Photograph:'Chávez is a Mexican citizen who has an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organised crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives,' said the US Department of Homeland Security in a statement following his detention. 'In August 2023, he entered the country legally with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024. Chávez is also believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organisation.' The authorities knew all that and had built a case against him before he climbed into the ring last month. Yet, they waited until after the lucrative bout, worth $8 million to Paul, a strident and vocal Trump supporter, before acting on the information. Curious that. In a fraught political climate where a Venezuelan immigrant was deported to El Salvador earlier this year because his Real Madrid tattoo was interpreted as a gang symbol, ICE doesn't and won't offer any explanation for any action they take. 'Why did they let him fight?' asked Chávez senior the other day. 'My son has been paying taxes in the United States for three years, and now in Mexico they're accusing him of money laundering.' That, and a whole lot more.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr's legendary father breaks silence on son's ICE arrest over 'cartel links'
Boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez Sr has protested his son's innocence after he was arrested by ICE agents last week over his alleged connection to the Sinaloa Cartel. Just days after his defeat against Jake Paul in Anaheim, California at the end of June, Chavez Jr was arrested 27 miles away in Los Angeles for overstaying his US visa and lying on a green-card application, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In Mexico, the 39-year-old son and namesake of the country's greatest ever boxer is also wanted on allegations of drug and gun trafficking. The DHS said last Thursday that they are 'processing him for expedited removal from the United States' due to a warrant in Mexico. As for the timing of the arrest, they claimed Chavez Jr's June 28 loss to Paul occurred one day after he became determined to stay in the country illegally. Mexico has since confirmed that it issued an arrest warrant for Chavez Jr in 2023. The country's officials and the DHS 'started the corresponding procedure for his extradition to Mexico,' it was revealed last week. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has also expressed hope that he will be imprisoned upon return. Amid plans to deport his son back to their homeland, Chavez Sr - one of the greatest fighters in boxing history - has claimed his son is innocent and that he is by no means a criminal. 'It's complicated, there's a lot of talk, but we're calm because we know my son's innocence,' the 62-year-old told the El Heraldo newspaper. 'My son will be anything you want, anything, but he is not a criminal and less everything he's being accused of.' Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico's Attorney General, said on Sunday that the investigation against Chavez Jr started in 2019 after a complaint filed by US authorities against the Sinaloa Cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking. 'He knows a lot of people, we live in Culiacan , it would be impossible not to know all of the people that are doing illicit stuff, but that does not mean nothing,' Chavez Sr said. 'In my time I met everybody, and they did not come after me.' Chavez senior was considered one of the best Mexican boxers of all time; a world champion at three divisions. In the 1980s and '90s he was a huge celebrity who mixed with drug dealers. He claimed in the past to have been friends with drug lords Amada Carrillo Fuentes and Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Gertz Manero said Chavez Junior's lawyers have requested at least five injunctions in Mexico, which have been rejected because the boxer is still in the United States. 'Lawyers in the United States are working to see if he stays there, and we're prepared if he comes here,' Chavez senior said. 'We'll fight under Mexican law if he´s transferred here.' Chavez has spent considerable time in his native Mexico and the US in recent years, but according to the Department of Homeland Security, his tourist visa expired in February of 2024. The agency further claims Chavez filed several fraudulent statements while applying for permanent residence in April of 2024 after marrying Frida Muñoz, who is related to imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. Chavez's father has openly spoken about his own relationships with the Sinaloa Cartel and, in particular, 'El Chapo'. In a podcast with journalist Javier Alarcon in 2021, he revealed: 'Not just El Chapo, I've met all the most wanted drug traffickers, like Amado Carrillo, El Azul [Esparragoza], and El Mayo [Zambada].
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Boxing great Julio César Chávez defends son arrested by US immigration agents
MEXICO CITY — As a professional, Julio César Chávez fought 115 times in the ring. Now, the former world champion said he was ready to fight outside of it to defend his same-name son, who was arrested by U.S. immigration agents at his Los Angeles home for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application.
Hindustan Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Boxer Chavez's appeal against arrest if deported from US rejected: Mexico prosecutor
Mexico's attorney general office said a court has so far rejected requests from boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr to not be arrested in the event of his deportation from the United States, where he was detained for alleged drug trafficking ties. Chavez, whose sports career is on the decline at the age of 39, is alleged to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel.(AP) Chavez, a former world champion and the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles after authorities determined that he was in the country illegally. His defense attorneys "have presented us" with "five or six injunctions" from the boxer "to have him released as soon as he arrives in Mexico," Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said at a press conference on Sunday. These injunctions were rejected because Chavez has not yet been handed over to Mexican authorities, he said. His deportation could be decided at an immigration hearing, which according to the defense team, will be held on Monday. Chavez, whose sports career is on the decline at the age of 39, is alleged to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States. Following his arrest, US authorities announced Thursday that they were processing his "expedited removal" and referred to the charges against him in Mexico. The attorney general's office confirmed in a statement after his arrest last week that Mexico had issued an arrest warrant for Chavez in 2023 "for organized crime and arms trafficking." Chavez's defense team has rejected the accusations and maintained that his arrest seeks to "terrorize the community" amid raids against undocumented migrants. Chavez's arrest came days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sell-out crowd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Once a top-rated boxer, Chavez won the WBC middleweight world title in 2011 and successfully defended it three times. He owns a record of 54-7 with one draw, but his career has also included multiple suspensions and fines for failed drug tests.
