07/07/25 04:29:00
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07/07 14:25 CDT Boxing great Julio Csar Chvez defends son arrested by US
immigration agents
Boxing great Julio Csar Chvez defends son arrested by US immigration agents
By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) --- As a professional, Julio Csar Chvez fought 115 times in
the ring. Now, the former world champion said he was ready to fight outside of
it to defend his same-name son, who was arrested by U.S. immigration agents at
his Los Angeles home for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card
application.
The 39-year-old Chvez Junior also has an active warrant for his arrest in
Mexico for alleged arms and drug trafficking and suggested ties to the Sinaloa
Cartel.
"It's complicated, there's a lot of talk, but we're calm because we know my
son's innocence," the elder Chavez told El Heraldo newspaper. "My son will be
anything you want, anything, but he is not a criminal and less everything he's
being accused of."
Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico's Attorney General, said on Sunday that the
investigation against Chvez Junior started in 2019 after a complaint filed by
U.S. authorities against the Sinaloa Cartel for organized crime, human
trafficking, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking.
"He knows a lot of people, we live in Culiacan, it would be impossible not to
know all of the people that are doing illicit stuff, but that does not mean
nothing," Chavez said. "In my time I met everybody, and they did not come after
me."
Chvez senior was considered one of the best Mexican boxers of all time; a
world champion at three divisions. In the 1980s and '90s he was a huge
celebrity who mixed with drug dealers. He claimed in the past to have been
friends with drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
Gertz Manero said Chavez Junior's lawyers have requested at least five
injunctions in Mexico, which have been rejected because the boxer is still in
the United States.
"Lawyers in the United States are working to see if he stays there, and we're
prepared if he comes here," Chavez senior said. "We'll fight under Mexican law
if he's transferred here."
The son's arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost to
influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a bout in Anaheim, California.
The Department of Homeland Security said officials determined Chvez Junior
should be arrested on June 27, the day before the fight. It was unclear why
they waited to act for days after the high-profile event.
"Why did they let him fight? My son has been paying taxes in the United States
for three years, and now in Mexico they're accusing him of money laundering,"
Chavez senior said. "Yes, he knows those people, but that doesn't mean I'm a
drug trafficker. Let's trust the law."
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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing
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