Julio César Chávez Jr., former world champion boxer, detained by ICE

U.S. immigration agents have arrested the Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr., a onetime middleweight world champion, days after he lost a heavily promoted match to influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul in California, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.

Authorities called Chávez an “illegal alien” and accused him of ties to the Sinaloa cartel, alleging he was involved in trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives.

In a news release, DHS called Chávez an “egregious public safety threat” and said it would seek to deport him from the United States through expedited removal, a process that does not permit migrants to have a hearing before an immigration court judge.

The announcement stunned boxing fans and Mexicans, who know Chávez as the son of the legendary former champion Julio César Chávez.

Chávez, 39, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday in Studio City, California, DHS said, days after the sold-out fight with Paul in Anaheim. He lost the cruiserweight match by unanimous decision, in a bout critics scorned as more a spectacle than athletic showcase.

DHS said Chávez, a Mexican citizen, is the subject of an arrest warrant in his native country for “his involvement in organized crime.”

The Mexican attorney general’s office confirmed in a brief communiqué that there was an outstanding arrest warrant for the boxer, dating to March 2023, on allegations of “organized crime and arms trafficking.”

The office did not say when that information was shared with U.S. authorities. It had apparently never been made public.

Eduardo Lamazón, a boxing commentator on Mexican television, said Mexicans received the news “with shock. He’s a very well-known, famous athlete.”

“It’s the first time the name of Julio César Chávez Jr. is linked to narcos, that I’m aware of,” Lamazón said. He added that the boxer spent most of his time in Los Angeles, where he owns a home.

Chávez was especially well known because his father was “one of the most important sports figures Mexico has had,” he said.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Michael A. Goldstein, Chávez’s attorney, called the allegations against his client “outrageous” and said they “appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community.”

“Mr. Chávez is not a threat to the community,” Goldstein said. “His workouts were open to the public and afforded law enforcement countless opportunities to contact him if he was indeed a public threat.”

Chávez is due in court Monday on charges related to a 2024 ghost gun investigation, Goldstein said.

The announcement of Chávez’s arrest comes as the Trump administration has sought to ramp up the president’s mass deportation agenda, seeking to reach his goal of removing 1 million undocumented immigrants this year. The Republican tax bill approved by Congress on Thursday will provide a huge influx of additional resources for ICE to bolster detentions and deportations.

“Under President Trump, no one is above the law - including world-famous athletes,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.”

DHS officials said Chávez entered the country in August 2023 on a tourist visa, overstayed and applied for a green card in April 2024 through his U.S. citizen spouse. The agency alleged Chávez made “multiple fraudulent statements” on his application.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made its referral to ICE for Chávez’s removal late last year, DHS said. He left the country but reentered in the waning days of the Biden administration in early January and was released on parole at the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego, authorities said.

Chávez followed in his father’s professional footsteps, building a less distinguished 54-7-1 record, though he was the World Boxing Council middleweight champion from 2011 through 2012.

The younger Chávez in recent years has faced inexperienced boxers in the ring, including former mixed martial arts star Anderson Silva, to whom he lost in 2021, and Paul, a YouTuber turned boxer.

Glynn Hill contributed to this report.