{"id":36820,"date":"2025-07-04T01:44:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/36820\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T01:44:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:44:20","slug":"ice-arrested-mexican-boxer-julio-cesar-chavez-jr-pending-deportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/36820\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE arrested Mexican boxer Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Jr. pending deportation"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Famed Mexican boxer Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Jr.<\/a> has been arrested for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, U.S. federal officials said Thursday.<\/p>\n

The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul<\/a> in Anaheim, California. The Department of Homeland Security said officials determined Ch\u00e1vez should be arrested on June 27, a day before the fight. It was unclear why they waited to act for days after the high-profile event.<\/p>\n

The boxer was riding a scooter when agents detained him<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old boxer, according to his attorney Michael Goldstein, was picked up Wednesday by a large number of federal agents while he was riding a scooter in front of a home where he resides in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City near Hollywood.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Julio<\/p>\n

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., center, poses during a weigh-in ahead of his cruiserweight boxing match against Jake Paul, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello)<\/p>\n

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., center, poses during a weigh-in ahead of his cruiserweight boxing match against Jake Paul, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n

Many people across Southern California are on edge<\/a> as immigration arrests have ramped up<\/a>, prompting protests and the federal deployment of National Guard troops<\/a> and U.S. Marines to downtown Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Goldstein did not know where Ch\u00e1vez 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Julio<\/p>\n

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrives for his cruiserweight boxing match against Jake Paul on Saturday, June 28, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Etienne Laurent)<\/p>\n

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrives for his cruiserweight boxing match against Jake Paul on Saturday, June 28, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo\/Etienne Laurent)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A person records the residency of Mexican boxer Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Jr., Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n

A person records the residency of Mexican boxer Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Jr., Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s family issued a statement Thursday afternoon in support of him, the Los Angeles Times reported. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have full confidence in his innocence,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWe firmly believe that the proper course is to allow the competent authorities to carry out their work without external pressure or speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before his recent bout, Chavez fought once since 2021<\/p>\n

Before his bout with Paul on Saturday, Ch\u00e1vez had fought just once since 2021, having fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career<\/a> conducted in the shadow of his father, Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez, 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.<\/p>\n

The son, who has battled drug addiction for much of his career, has been arrested repeatedly. In 2012, he was convicted of drunk driving<\/a> 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 Ch\u00e1vez reporting his progress regularly.<\/p>\n

He split his time between both countries. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Ch\u00e1vez 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. <\/p>\n

The agency also said Ch\u00e1vez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent residency on April 2, 2024, based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Frida Mu\u00f1oz. She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzman.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials said he is believed to be an affiliate of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel<\/a> that is blamed for a significant portion of Mexico\u2019s drug violence. <\/p>\n

Federal officials called Chavez a public safety threat<\/p>\n

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Ch\u00e1vez on Dec. 17, saying he \u201cis an egregious public safety threat,\u201d and yet he was allowed back into the country without a visa on Jan. 4 under the Biden administration, the agency said.<\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office said that an arrest warrant against \u201cJulio \u201cC 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cJulio C\u201d is Ch\u00e1vez. The agent declined to explain why Ch\u00e1vez was not arrested earlier in Mexico despite going back and forth between the two countries multiple times. <\/p>\n

In Mexico, mixed feelings followed the arrest<\/p>\n

In Mexico, word of U.S. agents arresting a well-known athlete prompted mixed feelings. <\/p>\n

Mart\u00edn Sandoval Pe\u00f1aloza, a newspaper seller in Mexico City, said he believes President Donald Trump wanted to make him an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the U.S. government – in this case, Trump \u2013 is up to something,\u201d he said, adding that it was \u201cto attract media attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oscar Tienda, a Mexico City storekeeper, said he wasn\u2019t surprised given the boxer\u2019s troubles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was predictable because he has had a lifetime of drug use,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Despite widely being criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport, Ch\u00e1vez still rose to its heights. He won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times. Ch\u00e1vez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo \u00c1lvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.<\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez claimed to be clean for the Paul fight. He looked in his best shape in years while preparing for the match.<\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of good people, and you\u2019re giving the community an example of violence,\u201d Ch\u00e1vez said. \u201cAfter everything that\u2019s happened, I wouldn\u2019t want to be deported.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014-<\/p>\n

Associated Press journalists Carlos Rodriguez, Fabiola Sanchez and Mart\u00edn Silva in Mexico City contributed to this story. Watson reported from San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Famed Mexican boxer Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Jr. has been arrested for overstaying his visa…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3881,21354,2059,276,4219,69,30001,57,51,409,4228,7902,30005,29999,1612,2936,224,30003,2222,14004,30000,50,30002,30004,62,52,3676,2065,61,370],"class_list":{"0":"post-36820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-ap-top-news","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-ca-state-wire","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-crime","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-frida-muoz","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-immigration","18":"tag-indictments","19":"tag-jake-paul","20":"tag-joaquin-guzman-loera","21":"tag-julio-csar-chvez-jr","22":"tag-latin-america","23":"tag-law-enforcement","24":"tag-los-angeles","25":"tag-martn-sandoval-pealoza","26":"tag-mexico","27":"tag-mexico-city","28":"tag-michael-goldstein","29":"tag-news","30":"tag-oscar-tienda","31":"tag-sergio-martinez","32":"tag-sports","33":"tag-top-stories","34":"tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security","35":"tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","36":"tag-u-s-news","37":"tag-united-states-government"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}