Mexico City – Julio César Chávez Jr., whose career in high profile boxing was tarnished by the abuse of substances and other struggles and never approached the heights of his legendary father, was in Mexican custody on Tuesday after being deported from the United States.
His expulsion was expected since July, when the immigration and application of customs arrested him outside his home in the city of his study and accused him of making “fraudulent statements” in his request to become permanent resident of the United States.
In Mexico, Chávez, 39, faces charges of affiliation with organized crimes and arms trafficking, Mexican authorities say.
He is the son of Julio César Chávez, widely considered as the best boxer in Mexico, and spent his career in the shadow of his legendary father.
Boxers Julio César Chávez, on the right, and his son Julio César Chávez Jr., during a press conference in Los Angeles in May.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
His father supported his problematic son and punished his homonym, whose struggles included substance abuse, legal problems and challenges to make weight for his episodes.
Despite her very publicized problems, Chavez won the medium weight title of the World Boxing Council in 2011 before losing her belt the following year.
Chávez was delivered to the authorities of application of the Mexican Law on the border of Arizona and was arrested Tuesday in a federal blockade in Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, the authorities said here.
During her regular press conference in the morning, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the boxer was in Mexican custody.
Days before his arrest in July in Studio City, Chávez faced Anaheim for his last fight, against Jake Paul, the influencer turned into English. Chávez lost the fight.
When he was arrested in July, the US authorities described Chavez as a “affiliate” of the Sinaloa cartel, which is one of the largest and most lethal drug trafficking unions.
Jake Paul, on the right, and Julio César Chávez Jr., on the left, exchange blows during their cruise weight fight in Anaheim on June 28.
(Anadolu / Anadolu through Getty Images)
Chávez has faced criticism about the alleged associations with posters figures, including Ovidio Guzmán, a son of the infamous drug trafficker, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who now meets a life imprisonment in a prison in the United States for his leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel. Ovid Guzmán recently declared himself guilty of drug trafficking and other positions in a federal court in Chicago and it is reported that he cooperates with US prosecutors.
Controversies have long eclipsed Chávez's career.
Chávez served 13 days in jail for a conviction for drunk 2012 in Los Angeles County and was arrested by the Los Angeles Police in January 2024 for charges of arms. According to his lawyer, Michael Goldstein, a court that judges the case of Armas, granted Chavez a “mental health deviation”, which, in some cases, can lead to the dismissal of criminal charges.
“I am sure that the problems in Mexico will be clarified, and can continue with its mental health diversion,” Goldstein said.
A persistent question in the case is why Chavez apparently allowed him to travel freely between the United States and Mexico on several occasions despite a Mexican arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023.
On January 4, 2025, according to the Department of National Security, Chávez restarted the United States of Tijuana to San Diego through the San Ysidro entrance port. It was allowed despite the slope Mexican arrest order and a determination of the United States only a few weeks before Chavez represented “an atrocious public security threat,” DHS said in a press release on July 3 that revealed the detention of the boxer.
National Security said that the Biden administration, which was still in charge at the time of the January entrance of Chávez, had determined that the boxer “was not a priority of immigration application.”
While he was training for Paul's party, Chávez spoke publicly against the deportation agenda of President Trump, who has caused protests and complaints in California. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, he accused the administration of “attackers”.
Chávez told the Times: “I would not like to be deported.”
McDonnell reported from Mexico City and the REDA from Los Angeles. The special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.
