Former world boxing champion Julio César Chávez Jr. has been detained in Mexico, where he is wanted for alleged cartel ties after being deported from the U.S.
Chávez, 39, was handed over to authorities on Tuesday and imprisoned in Hermosillo in the northern state of Sonora, an official told the Associated Press.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed Chávez’s deportation to reporters on Tuesday, claiming she didn’t know whether he arrived in Mexico “yesterday or this morning.”
A warrant for the athlete’s arrest was issued in February, accusing him of arms and drug trafficking, along with an alleged link to the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization in the U.S. and one of the world’s most influential organized crime groups.
Mexico’s Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero said an investigation into Chávez, who hails from the state of Sinaloa, was opened in 2019.
Chávez was arrested after being swarmed by U.S. immigration officials on July 2 in Studio City, Los Angeles, just days after he lost a fight against Jake Paul, 28, the social media influencer-turned-professional boxer, who defeated a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in November.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month that Chávez overstayed his tourist visa, which he used to enter the U.S. in August 2023 and expired in February 2024.
The agency also accused Chávez of lying on his green card application in April last year based on his marriage to Frida Muñoz, a U.S. citizen who is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.
A day after Chávez’s arrest, Sheinbaum said she hoped the suspect would “be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico.”
Last December, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services classified Chávez as a threat to public safety and, on June 27, an immigration judge paved the way for his deportation this week after authorizing his expedited removal.
He was already facing criminal proceedings in LA, accused of possessing two unregistered AR-style ghost rifles, along with mental health issues. Chávez has not been criminally convicted and was freed on $50,000 bond on the condition that he go to a residential drug treatment facility.
Chávez struggled with addiction throughout his boxing career, marked by failed drug tests, suspensions, missed weigh-ins, and persistent criticism over his perceived inconsistent commitment to the sport.
He held the WBC middleweight title between 2011 and 2012, defending it three times, and shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.
Chávez is the son of three-weight world champion Julio César Chávez, a massive celebrity in the 1980s and 1990s who mixed social circles with drug dealers and had an alleged friendship with drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
