Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was deported to Mexico and is in jail in Northern Mexico after U.S. immigration arrested him for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application.
Chávez was wanted in Mexico for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and was handed over to authorities at a checkpoint in the border city of Nogales and then taken to a prison in Sonora, according to multiple reports.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the boxer had been deported to the country, USA Today reported.
Chávez, the son of famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, was arrested in early July by ICE just days after fighting Jake Paul.
Prosecutors in Mexico allege that the 39-year-old Chávez had acted as a henchman for the Sinaloa Cartel, which his lawyer and family have denied.
“It’s complicated; there’s a lot of talk, but we’re calm because we know my son’s innocence,” Chávez Sr. told Colombian newspaper El Heraldo. “My son will be anything you want, anything, but he is not a criminal and less everything he’s being accused of.”
Chávez had entered the country in August 2023 legally with a B2 tourist visa that had been valid through February 2024.
He was arrested in Los Angeles in January 2024 on felony gun possession charges after police said they found two AR-style ghost rifles in his possession.
Chávez pleaded not guilty to the charges and entered a residential treatment program with the case still pending.
He won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times during his reign.
In a statement released at the time of Chávez’s detainment by ICE, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said that “no one is above the law— including world-famous athletes.”
“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,” she said.