Officials said ICE officers detained the former middleweight champion for overstaying a tourist visa that expired in February 2024.
WASHINGTON — Renowned Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. has been apprehended for overstaying his visa and misrepresenting details on a green card application. He will be deported to Mexico, where he is facing charges related to organized crime, as reported by U.S. federal officials on Thursday.
The arrest took place only a few days after the ex-middleweight champion lost a fight against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California. The Department of Homeland Security revealed that officials had decided on June 27 to detain Chávez, just a day before the scheduled match. However, the reasons for delaying the arrest until after the prominent event remain unclear.
The boxer was riding a scooter when agents detained him
According to his lawyer, Michael Goldstein, the 39-year-old boxer was detained on Wednesday by a significant number of federal agents as he was riding a scooter in front of his residence located in the affluent Studio City area of Los Angeles, near Hollywood.
“The current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein did not know where Chávez was being detained as of Thursday morning, but said he and his client were due in court Monday in connection with prior gun possession charges.
Before his recent bout, Chavez fought once since 2021
Before his bout with Paul on Saturday, Chávez had fought just once since 2021, having fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career conducted in the shadow of his father, Julio César Chávez, one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame who won championships in several weight classes.
The son, who has battled drug addiction for much of his career, has been arrested repeatedly. In 2012, he was convicted of drunk driving in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail and in January 2024 he was arrested on gun charges. Police said he possessed two AR-style ghost rifles. He was later freed on a $50,000 bond and on condition he went to a residential drug treatment facility. The case is still pending, with Chávez reporting his progress regularly.
He split his time between both countries. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Chávez for overstaying a tourist visa that he entered the U.S. with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The agency also said Chávez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent residency on April 2, 2024, based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Frida Muñoz. She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
U.S. officials said he is believed to be an affiliate of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel that is blamed for a significant portion of Mexico’s drug violence.
Federal officials called Chavez a public safety threat
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Chávez on Dec. 17, saying he “is an egregious public safety threat,” and yet he was allowed back into the country without a visa on Jan. 4 under the Biden administration, the agency said.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said that an arrest warrant against “Julio “C was issued in Mexico in March 2023 in an investigation of organized crime and arms trafficking allegations and that Mexico on Thursday initiated extradition proceedings.
A federal agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Associated Press that “Julio C” is Chávez. The agent declined to explain why Chávez was not arrested earlier in Mexico despite going back and forth between the two countries multiple times.
In Mexico, mixed feelings followed the arrest
In Mexico, word of U.S. agents arresting a well-known athlete prompted mixed feelings.
Martín Sandoval Peñaloza, a newspaper seller in Mexico City, said he believes President Donald Trump wanted to make him an example.
“I think that the U.S. government – in this case, Trump – is up to something,” he said, adding that it was “to attract media attention.”
Oscar Tienda, a Mexico City storekeeper, said he wasn’t surprised given the boxer’s troubles.
“I think it was predictable because he has had a lifetime of drug use,” he said.
Despite widely being criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport, Chávez still rose to its heights. He won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times. Chávez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.
Chávez claimed to be clean for the Paul fight. He looked in his best shape in years while preparing for the match.
Chávez said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ahead of his fight with Paul that he and his trainers were shaken by the immigration arrests.
“There are a lot of good people, and you’re giving the community an example of violence,” Chávez said. “After everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t want to be deported.”
Associated Press journalists Carlos Rodriguez, Fabiola Sanchez and Martín Silva in Mexico City contributed to this story. Watson reported from San Diego.
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