Famed boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is facing deportation after authorities arrested him and said he entered the U.S. illegally.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest Thursday, just days after he fought influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in California. The agency says Chavez is a Mexican citizen who “has an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives.”
Chavez was arrested on Wednesday while riding a scooter in front of his home in Studio City, attorney Michael Goldstein told the Associated Press.
Goldstein doesn’t know where his client is being held but said he was due in court on Monday for gun possession charges filed last year and to provide an update on his progress in a substance abuse program.
“The current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
The DHS says Chavez entered the U.S. illegally in August 2023 on a tourist visa that expired in February 2024.
In April 2024, Chavez applied for Legal Resident Status, citing his marriage to a U.S. citizen, according to the DHS. The citizen Chavez was marrying had ties to a cartel through a “prior relationship” with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, the agency claims.
Chavez was then allowed to reenter the U.S. in January 2025. The agency deemed Chavez “removable” last week and said he submitted multiple “fraudulent statements” on his Legal Resident Status application.
Chavez is the son of beloved Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez. Before his fight with Paul — which he lost — the 39-year-old had only fought one other time since 2021. He previously won the World Boxing Council middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times.
Chavez has battled a drug addiction but has since attended a rehabilitation center in Sinaloa, the Associated Press reports. The boxer said he was clean ahead of his face-off with Paul.
