ICE Arrests Mexican Boxer Who Just Lost to Jake Paul — Alleging He Has Ties to Sinaloa Cartel
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Mexico’s former world champion, during a boxing news conference at the Avalon Hollywood Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee via AP)
Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was arrested by ICE agents just days after his high-profile fight against popular influencer Jake Paul.
According to a statement published by the Department of Homeland Security, Chavez Jr. — the son of boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez — has an “active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives.” He was processed for expedited removal from the United States.
Chavez Jr., 39, has fought in more than 60 professional bouts. On Saturday night, he lost by unanimous decision to Paul at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The day before, DHS said in its press release, Chavez Jr. was determined to be removable. The statement continued:
In August 2023, he entered the country legally with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024.
Chavez is also believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. ICE arrested Chavez in Studio City, California on July 2.
On April 2, 2024, Chavez filed application for Lawful Permanent Resident status. Chavez’s application was based on his marriage to a U.S. 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.
On December 17, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made a referral to ICE that Chavez is an egregious public safety threat. However, an entry in a DHS law enforcement system under the Biden administration indicated Chavez was not an immigration enforcement priority.
On January 4, 2025, the Biden administration allowed Chavez to reenter the country and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry.
Following multiple fraudulent statements on his application to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, he was determined to be in the country illegally and removable on June 27, 2025.
The statement also listed some of Chavez Jr.’s prior charges. In 2023, a judge issued an arrest warrant on the boxer “for the offense of organized crime for the purpose of committing crimes of weapons trafficking and manufacturing crimes, in the modality of those who participate in clandestinely bringing weapons, ammunition, cartridges, explosives into the country; and those who manufacture weapons, ammunition, cartridges, and explosives without the corresponding permit.”
