MEXICO CITY — Julio César Chávez Jr., whose high-profile boxing profession was marred by substance abuse and different struggles and by no means approached the heights of his legendary father, was in Mexican custody Tuesday after being deported from the US.
His expulsion had been anticipated since July, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him outdoors his Studio Metropolis house and accused him of constructing “fraudulent statements” on his utility to change into a U.S. everlasting resident.
In Mexico, Chávez, 39, faces prices of organized crime affiliation and arms trafficking, Mexican authorities say.
He’s the son of Julio César Chávez — extensively thought to be Mexico’s best boxer — and spent his profession within the shadow of his fabled father.
Boxers Julio César Chávez, proper, and his son Julio César Chávez Jr., throughout a information convention in Los Angeles in Might.
(Damian Dovarganes / Related Press)
His father each supported his troubled son and chastised his namesake, whose struggles included substance abuse, authorized troubles and challenges in making weight for his bouts.
Regardless of his extremely publicized issues, Chávez received the World Boxing Council middleweight title in 2011 earlier than dropping the belt the next yr.
Chávez was turned over to Mexican regulation enforcement authorities on the Arizona border and was being held Tuesday in a federal lockup in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state, authorities right here mentioned.
Days earlier than his July arrest in Studio Metropolis, Chávez confronted off in Anaheim for his final bout — towards Jake Paul, the influencer-turned-pugilist. Chávez misplaced the combat.
When he was arrested in July, U.S. authorities labeled Chávez an “affiliate” of the Sinaloa cartel, which is considered one of Mexico’s largest — and most deadly — drug-trafficking syndicates.
Jake Paul, proper, and Julio César Chávez Jr., left, trade punches throughout their cruiserweight bout in Anaheim on June 28.
(Anadolu / Anadolu through Getty Photos)
Chávez has confronted criticism over alleged associations with cartel figures, together with Ovidio Guzmán, a son of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now serving a life sentence in a U.S jail for his management function within the Sinaloa cartel. Ovidio Guzmán lately pleaded responsible to drug-trafficking and different prices in federal court docket in Chicago and is reported to be cooperating with U.S. prosecutors.
Controversies have lengthy overshadowed the profession of Chávez.
Chávez served 13 days in jail for a 2012 drunk-driving conviction in Los Angeles County and was arrested by Los Angeles police in January 2024 on gun prices. In keeping with his lawyer, Michael Goldstein, a court docket adjudicating the gun case granted Chávez a “mental health diversion,” which, in some instances, can result in dismissal of felony prices.
“I’m confident that the issues in Mexico will be cleared up, and he’ll be able to continue with his mental health diversion” in California, Goldstein mentioned.
A lingering query within the case is why Chávez was apparently allowed to journey freely between the US and Mexico on a number of events regardless of a Mexican arrest warrant issued towards him in March 2023.
Homeland Safety mentioned that the Biden administration — which was nonetheless in cost on the time of Chávez’s January entry — had decided that the boxer “was not an immigration enforcement priority.”
Whereas in coaching for the Paul match, Chávez spoke out publicly towards President Trump’s ramped-up deportation agenda, which has sparked protests and denunciations throughout California. In an interview with the Los Angeles Occasions, he accused the administration of “attacking” Latinos.
Chávez advised The Occasions: “I wouldn’t want to be deported.”
McDonnell reported from Mexico Metropolis and El Reda from Los Angeles. Particular correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico Metropolis contributed to this report.
