Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr., who was arrested last July in the U.S. and later deported to Mexico, insists in an interview on pleading not guilty to the charges of alleged links to the Sinaloa Cartel and reveals details of how he was apprehended by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Yes, of course [I am innocent], I am not a trafficker. In Culiacán everyone knows it. I hit people for a cartel and those things, no, no, I don’t, thank God I haven’t needed to,” he declared in an interview with the sports media outlet TUDN. At the same time, he admitted that he knows people “of all kinds”, although he emphasized that this does not mean that he has any relationship.
The athlete admits that his arrest took him by surprise. In particular, he recounted that he went for a walk in California, where he was resting after his fight against American Jake Paul, when “five patrol cars” arrived and surrounded him.
“It was a ‘shock’ for me. I mean, I never expected to be detained. I had a visa and I had everything,” he said, noting that his visa was canceled after his arrest. He also explained that he was taken to a provisional jail, where he had to complete paperwork. “I said: ‘They’re going to deport me […], send me to my dad.’ But no, that’s where the journey began.”
The journey from California to Arizona lasted “three hours”, followed by another “28 hours” in “five different cars” until arriving in Texas. “There they held me in a prison for five days and then they moved all of us [who were there] on a plane. Everyone handcuffed and shackled, and they dropped me off in Arizona and I was detained there for 44 days,” he revealed.
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Following his deportation to Mexico in August 2025, the 39-year-old boxer shared that he is now under legal proceedings and must comply with certain preventive measures. “We are in the hands of the authorities, but as I tell you, I was told that I had to sign every month and that I could leave the country or box, as long as there is a permit and I did it in a good way,” he said, clarifying that he is following legal instructions to continue his sporting career.
On July 2nd, Chávez Jr, son of the historic Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, was arrested by immigration agents in Los Angeles, and was taken into ICE custody. He was identified as an “illegal alien” and his deportation to Mexico was ordered, where he has an arrest warrant for alleged links to organized crime.
