Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. deported for alleged cartel ties, drug trafficking weeks after loss to Jake Paul
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Nearly two months after losing a fight to YouTuber Jake Paul, boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. has been deported to Mexico. Chávez Jr. is currently wanted for alleged cartel ties in Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the news at her daily press conference on Tuesday.
“I understand he was deported. I don’t know if it was yesterday or this morning, but we were informed that he was arriving in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
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The boxer was arrested in the U.S. on July 3 for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application. The arrest occurred less than a week after losing his comeback fight against Paul on June 28 in Anaheim, California.
Chávez, 39, had a warrant for his arrest in Mexico for alleged arms and drug trafficking and ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s attorney general, said the investigation into Chávez started in 2019.
Sheinbaum said after the arrest she hoped the boxer would be deported to face his charges.
Chávez’s father was a massive celebrity in the 1980s and 1990s who mixed social circles with drug dealers and claimed to have been friends with drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
The iconic fighter defended his son following his arrest, but has not spoken since the deportation.
The younger Chávez has battled drug addiction for much of his boxing career, failing drug tests, serving suspensions and egregiously missing weight while being widely criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport. Chavez won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times. He shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.
In 2012, he was convicted of drunken driving in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail. 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.
WHO IS JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR.? MEXICAN BOXER TO BE DEPORTED BY ICE AFTER LOSING TO JAKE PAUL
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Chávez Jr. has been charged with several crimes while in the U.S.
On Jan. 22, 2012, California Highwaay Patrol arrested Chávez and charged him with DUI alcohol/drugs and driving without a license. On June 23, 2012, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, convicted Chávez of the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced him to 13 days in jail and 36 months’ probation.
On Jan. 14, 2023, a District Judge issued an arrest warrant for Chávez, for the offense of organized crime for the purpose of committing crimes of weapons trafficking and manufacturing crimes, in the modality of those who participate in clandestinely bringing weapons, ammunition, cartridges, explosives into the country; and those who manufacture weapons, ammunition, cartridges, and explosives without the corresponding permit.
On Jan. 7, 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Chavez and charged him with Illegal Possession of an assault weapon and manufacture or import short-barreled rifle. The court convicted Chavez of these charges.
DHS also suspects Chavez is allegedly believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Chavez’s application was based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, who is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, according to DHS.
The boxer was nearly cast out of the country months ago.
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According to DHS, in December 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had made a referral to ICE that Chávez was an “egregious public safety threat,” but Chavez was allowed to reenter the country on Jan. 4, 2025 after records indicated former President Joe Biden’s administration had not made him an immigration enforcement priority.
Afterward, the Biden administration allowed Chavez to reenter the country and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry, per DHS.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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