MEXICO CITY — As a professional, Julio Cesar Chavez 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 Chavez Jr. 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 the 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 Chavez Jr. 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, 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.”
Chavez Sr. was considered one of the best Mexican boxers of all time: a world champion in three divisions. In the 1980s and ’90s, he was a huge celebrity who associated with drug dealers. He claimed in the past to have been friends with drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
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Gertz Manero said the lawyers representing Chavez Jr. 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 Sr. 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 Chavez Jr. 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 Sr. said. “Yes, he knows those people, but that doesn’t mean I’m a drug trafficker. Let’s trust the law.”