Mexican boxer Chavez Jr. deported from US over alleged cartel ties

Former champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been detained in Mexico after deportation by the United States to face drug cartel-related charges, Mexican authorities said Tuesday.

Chavez, the son of legendary fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, was handed over at midday Monday and transferred to a prison in Mexico’s northwest Sonora state, according to information on the country’s National Detention Registry.

“He was deported,” President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, adding that there was an arrest warrant for him in Mexico.

US authorities arrested Chavez in July for being in the United States illegally. 

They also said he was wanted in Mexico for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.

His extradition comes as US President Donald Trump cracks down on immigrants as part of a promise to deport millions of people. 

Chavez’s arrest in July happened days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sell-out crowd in California.

Once a top-rated boxer, he won the WBC middleweight world title in 2011 and successfully defended it three times. 

But his career has also included multiple suspensions and fines for failed drug tests.

Homeland Security, which oversees US immigration enforcement, said Chavez had entered the United States legally in 2023 on a tourist visa that was valid until February 2024.

In April last year, he applied for permanent residency based on his marriage to a US 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.”

Homeland Security said that in addition to the active warrant in Mexico, Chavez had criminal convictions in the United States, including on weapons charges in 2024 in Los Angeles.

In April last year, he applied for permanent residency based on his marriage to a US 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.”

Homeland Security said that in addition to the active warrant in Mexico, Chavez had criminal convictions in the United States, including on weapons charges in 2024 in Los Angeles.