Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. Arrested by ice, to be expelled from Mexico, say the managers
The famous Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was arrested to have entered the United States illegally and will be expelled in Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, American federal officials announced on Thursday.
The arrest only occurs a few days after the former average weight champion lost a match against Jake Paul in Anaheim, California.
Chávez, 39, was picked up by a large number of federal agents while riding a scooter in front of his house at Studio City, according to the lawyer for Ch Ávez, Michael Goldstein.
“Current allegations are scandalous and simply another title to terrorize the community,” said Goldstein.
Many people across southern California are in advance while immigration arrests have accelerated, which prompted protests and the federal deployment of the Troops of the National Guard and the US Marines in downtown Los Angeles.
Goldstein did not know where Chávez was detained on Thursday morning, but said that they owed the court on Monday linked to accusations of last year’s firearms possession and were to provide an update on his progress in a drug addiction program.
The Ministry of Internal Security said that the immigration and customs application agents arrested Chávez for exceeding a tourist visa that expired in February 2024 after entering the country in August 2023.
The American citizenship and immigration services reported ice about Chávez last year, saying that it “is a blatant threat to public security”, and yet it was authorized to return to the country on January 4, the agency said.
The officials said he had an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and firearm traffic, ammunition and explosives and would be a affiliate of the Sinaloa cartel. The Associated Press contacted the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico about the accusations, but the office has not yet responded.
US President Donald Trump ordered federal immigration officials on Sunday to prioritize the deportations of undocumented migrants in democratic cities. This comes in the wake of major demonstrations during the weekend against the immigration policies of the Trump administration in major cities across the country.
The Trump administration said that Chávez asked for a green card on April 2, 2024, on the basis of his marriage to an American citizen, Frida Muñoz, the former partner of Edgar Guzmán López, Guzman’s disappoinable son imprisoned Sinaloa, Kingpin Joaquin (El Chapo).
The agency said that Chávez had submitted multiple fraudulent declarations on its request, which led to its arrest.
Chávez had fought only once since 2021 before his fight with Paul on Saturday, having come across countless stockings during a long boxing career led in the shade of his father, one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history, a member of the Hall of Fame International who won championships in several weight classes.
The son failed drug screening tests, served suspensions and lacked blatant weight while being widely criticized for his intermittent dedication to sport.
He has always reached his heights, winning the WBC average weight title in 2011 and defending it three times. Chávez shared the ring with the great generational canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing both.
After having fought against drug addiction for long stretches of his career, Chávez went to a clinic of rehabilitation in Sinaloa and claimed to be clean for Paul’s fight. He looked in his best form for years while preparing for the match.
Chávez said in an interview with Los Angeles Times before his fight with Paul that he and his coaches were afraid by the arrests of immigration.
“I do not understand the situation – why so much violence? There are many good people, and you give the community an example of violence,” said Chávez. “After all that happened, I wouldn’t want to be expelled.”
