Former WBC middleweight champion and son of Mexican boxing legend Julio César Chávez Sr., Julio César Chávez Jr., was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles following his high-profile boxing match in opposition to Jake Paul.
The arrest, which occurred on Wednesday within the Studio Metropolis neighborhood of Los Angeles, comes amid a broader investigation into Chávez Jr.’s alleged ties to organized crime and visa violations.
In response to an announcement from the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), officers detained Chávez for overstaying a vacationer visa, which he entered the U.S. with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024. The company states that Chávez submitted a number of fraudulent statements when he utilized for everlasting residency on April 2, 2024, based mostly on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Frida Muñoz. She is the mom of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
U.S. officers claimed Chávez to be an affiliate of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and mentioned that there was an energetic arrest warrant for him in Mexico over his alleged involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunitions, and explosives.
Chávez is presently being processed for expedited elimination from america. DHS has additionally labeled him an “egregious public security menace”.
President Claudia Sheinbaum additionally reportedly mentioned that Mexico first issued an arrest order for Chávez in 2023 after an investigation that started in 2019 however hadn’t acted on it as a result of he had largely been within the U.S. throughout that point. She additionally mentioned she didn’t know if Chávez had hyperlinks to the Sinaloa Cartel.
“The hope is that he shall be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum mentioned throughout her each day information briefing. She additionally famous that Mexico had not beforehand executed the arrest warrant as a result of Chávez’s extended presence in america.
Whereas U.S. officers declare Chávez has ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, President Sheinbaum said that she was not conscious of any confirmed connection.
Chávez’s authorized counsel strongly denied the allegations. His legal professional, Michael Goldstein, described the arrest as extreme and the fees as unsubstantiated.
“The present allegations are outrageous and seem like designed as a headline to terrorize the group,” Goldstein mentioned, including that greater than two dozen brokers detained Chávez exterior his residence. Chávez’s household in Mexico mentioned in an announcement that they “absolutely belief his innocence.”
Reuters experiences that Frida Muñoz Chávez, Chávez’s spouse, was beforehand married to one of many sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the previous Sinaloa Cartel chief presently serving a life sentence in america.
The arrest occurred simply 4 days after Chávez’s return to the highlight in a extensively publicized struggle in opposition to Jake Paul. The 39-year-old boxer grew to become the newest fighter to face Paul, who has made a profession dealing with boxers and combined martial artists properly above his age in a number of the sport’s most-watched playing cards.
Chávez Jr., a local of Sinaloa, Mexico, holds an expert document of 54 wins, 7 losses, and 1 draw. He held the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012 and confronted notable opponents together with Canelo Álvarez in 2017.
As immigration authorities proceed with Chávez’s deportation, the previous champion now faces critical authorized penalties in each america and Mexico, threatening not solely his profession but additionally the popularity tied to one among boxing’s most acknowledged household names.
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