Arrest warrant in Mexico
Immigration authority determines former boxing world champion
03.07.2025 – 10:26 pmReading time: 1 min.
A week ago, Julio César Chávez Jr. fought on a big stage. Now the Mexican has been arrested by a US authority.
The former WBC world champion in middleweight, Julio César Chávez Jr., was arrested by US federal authorities in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The immigration and customs authority ICE arrested the 39-year-old in Studio City to the 39-year-old according to the Ministry of Homeland Security- reason is an active arrest warrant in Mexico.
Accordingly, Chávez is sought by the Mexican authorities for alleged involvement in organized crime and the trade in weapons, ammunition and explosives. According to the US authorities, he should belong to the notorious Sinaloa cartel, which was classified by ex-President Donald Trump as a foreign terrorist organization.
Chávez Jr. had entered the United States with a B2 tourist visa in August 2023. Despite an ongoing application for a permanent residence permit-justified by his marriage to a US citizen-he has now been prepared for the “accelerated expulsion”. According to DHS, he made several “fraudulent information” in the application. As early as December 2023, immigration authorities classified the boxer as a “considerable danger to public security”.
His lawyer Michael A. Goldstein decisively rejected the allegations in a statement. He spoke of “outrageous” accusations that should only produce headlines.
Chávez Jr. was born in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and debuted in 2002 as a professional boxer. In June 2011 he won the WBC belt in the middle weight, which he defended three times. It was only last Saturday that he competed against influencer Jake Paul in an Anaheim in California – and lost over ten rounds on points.