3 days ago
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrest: ICE detains champion boxer, who faces removal from U.S.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the former champion boxer from Mexico, has been arrested by ICE, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.
Chavez, 39, is being processed for expedited removal from the United States, according to DHS, which said Chavez has an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives.
His arrest came four days days after Chavez Jr. lost a high-profile match to celebrity boxer Jake Paul. Chavez, the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., lost the 10-round fight by unanimous decision at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. He was critical of immigration raids Los Angeles.
In August 2023, Chavez entered the country legally with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024.
In January 2024, Chavez was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of felony gun possession charges after police said they found him in possession of two AR-style ghost rifles, according to ESPN and the Los Angeles Times.
He pleaded not guilty to the gun possession charges and agreed to enter a residential treatment program, according to those reports. Court records indicate Chavez was granted pretrial diversion. As of the last progress report on June 18, he was still in the program, said Greg Risling of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's June 25.
"The minute order does not indicate he has to remain in California during the two-year, diversionary period," Risling said, referring to a court document. "But if he leaves the treatment program without permission or is discharged, he has been ordered to report to the court within two business days.
"Generally speaking, a defendant on probation needs court permission to travel and that usually applies to diversion as well."
On July 3, Risling referred questions about Chavez's case to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which Risling said handles diversion programs and their respective conditions and terms.
In its press release, DHS stated former President Joe Biden's administration allowed Chavez to reenter the country in January and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry in California.
Chavez Jr. says ICE immigration raids 'scared me'
Chavez trained in Los Angeles before the fight against Paul and addressed the immigration raids that triggered protests in the city's downtown.
"It even scared me, to tell you the truth, it is very ugly,' he told the Los Angeles Times for a story published June 23. 'I don't understand the situation, why so much violence. There are many good people and you are setting an example of violence to the community.'
He also addressed federal agents wearing masks and not identifying themselves while targeting workers who appeared to be immigrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.
'Seeing children left alone because their parents are grabbed,'' Chavez said. '... That is common sense, we are people and we are going to feel bad when we see that situation.''
Who won Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?
Paul beat Chavez Jr. by unanimous decision Saturday night, and to call Chavez Jr.'s early rounds a slow start would be a gross understatement.
In the first round, he threw only four punches and landed zero. Chavez Jr. landed a total of nine punches over the first five rounds. He finally came alive in the final two rounds of the fight, but Paul won the fight decisively on the judges' scorecards.
The judges scored it 99-91, 97-93, 98-92 in favor of Paul as the crowd booed. Here is our round-by-round analysis of the fight.
'He's a tough, tough guy,'' Paul said after the fight. 'He's never been stopped. And he's a Mexican warrior. 'I respect Mexican warriors. I respect Mexico. But I'm also a warrior and I came out on top tonight.''
Chavez, who held the WBC middleweight world title in 2011 and 2012, has lost four of his past seven fights.
