Julio César Chávez Jr.
Julio César Chávez Carrasco, better known as Julio César Chávez Jr., is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBC middleweight title from 2011 to 2012. He is the son of former three-division world champion of boxing Julio César Chávez.
Chávez Jr. is the older brother of Omar Chávez. He also has a younger sister, Nicole.
Early and personal life
Chávez Jr. was born in the state of Sinaloa, when his father held the WBC World Championship at super featherweight. He rose to prominence as a child, when his father would take him and his brother Omar into the ring as children before each of his fights. When he was a teenager, his parents divorced.He has been married to Frida Muñoz, the mother of a granddaughter of former Sinaloa Cartel head Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Legal issues
In 2012, Chávez Jr. was convicted for driving under influence in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in prison. In 2024, he was arrested on possessing two AR-style ghost rifles, but was released on a $50,000 bond and the condition that he would undergo drug rehabilitation treatment.On 2 July 2025, Chávez Jr. was arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Studio City. He was processed for deportation as he had an active arrest warrant in Mexico since 2023 due to his alleged involvement with the Sinaloa Cartel. According to a 2019 investigation by the Attorney General of Mexico, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas ordered Chávez Jr. to assault drug traffickers for their failures. President Claudia Sheinbaum said he had not been arrested in Mexico because he spent most of his time in the United States. On 19 August 2025, it was reported that Chávez Jr. was deported to Mexico and jailed in Hermosillo, Sonora. He was later released on bail to await trial outside of custody.
Amateur career
Chávez's amateur career consisted of only two fights against former world champion Jorge Páez's oldest son Jorge Páez Jr.; both of the exhibitions bouts were shown on Mexican television.Professional career
Early career
After those amateur fights, Chávez Jr. started his professional boxing career at 17 years old. On 26 September 2003, at Super Featherweight, he won his professional debut by outpointing Jonathan Hernandez over six rounds in Chávez Jr.'s native Culiacán, Sinaloa. Chávez Jr. was signed with Bob Arum's Top Rank. Many of his fights have been held during boxing programs that have been headed by his father; he has also been featured on the undercards of many major pay-per-view fights. He is considerably taller than his father. Chávez Jr. set a fighting pace that was reminiscent of Chávez Sr.'s own pace when the latter was a younger man: in 2004, he fought eleven times, not having a fight only in August during that year.Chávez won by a split decision over Matt Vanda 12 July 2008. Scores for the fight were 97–93 and 100–90, while losing 96–95 on another card. Chávez struggled with making weight for several bouts and was suspended following his win over Troy Rowland for using a banned diuretic, furosemide, to make the 160-pound weight limit. As a result, the fight was changed to a no contest.
Middleweight
On 26 June 2010, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Chávez Jr. had a win against John Duddy, in what many regard as his first serious fight.In December 2010, Alfonso Gómez was signed to match up against the undefeated Chávez Jr. at middleweight for Chávez Jr.'s WBC Silver Middleweight belt on the In Harm's Way card as the main event. However, during training for the bout, Alfonso tore some ligaments in his left elbow and had to withdraw from the card and undergo a few months of rehab. For his part, Chávez Jr. was set to fight Paweł Wolak as a replacement bout, but after adjusting the weight limit for said match to 165 lbs, Chávez Jr. had to pull out due to the flu messing up his training and weight loss and then in January he went on to beat title contender Billy Lyell.
Chávez Jr. vs. Zbik
On 4 June 2011, Chávez defeated WBC Middleweight Champion Sebastian Zbik to win his first world title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, taking a major step toward establishing his own legacy while his famous father looked on. He was behind early against Zbik, who was the quicker fighter and landed more punches early. But Chávez kept coming forward, countering with hard body shots that seemed to slow his German opponent down. The fight drew 1.5 million viewers on HBO: Boxing After Dark making it the most viewed since 2007 when Paulie Malignaggi fought Lovemore Ndou.Chávez Jr. vs. Manfredo Jr.
Chávez Jr. successfully defended his Middleweight title with a fifth-round knockout of Peter Manfredo Jr. in Houston on 19 November 2011.Chávez was marginally outworked, but he landed a higher percentage of punches and more power shots than Manfredo. In the fifth round, Chávez hurt Manfredo with a hard right hand and unloaded a flurry when the challenger wobbled and backed up on the ropes. He didn't answer with any punches and referee Laurence Cole finally stepped in to call it at 1 minutes, 52 seconds. The fight averaged 1.5 million viewers on HBO.
Chávez Jr. vs. Rubio
On 4 February 2012, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Chávez faced Mexican countryman Marco Antonio Rubio in a 12-round scheduled championship Middleweight bout. Chávez Jr. retained his WBC Middleweight title after beating Rubio by a unanimous decision. Chávez bossed the majority of the exchanges and was awarded the fight 118–110 116–112 115–113 on the judges' scorecards. Chavez landed 237 of 560 punches thrown whilst Rubio connected 201 of 962 punches. The fight was watched by 19 million viewers in Mexico. In the US, the fight was shown live on HBO: Boxing After Dark and averaged 1.9 million viewers.Two weeks before the fight, Chávez was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of drunk driving.
Chávez Jr. vs. Lee
On 16 June 2012, at the University of Texas at El Paso, Sunbowl in El Paso, Texas. Chávez Jr. recovered from a slow start he blamed on leg cramps and stopped Andy Lee at 2:21 of the seventh round to retain the WBC Middleweight title. A right uppercut by Chávez snapped Lee's head upwards and sideways and Chávez connected on a barrage of punches before referee Laurence Cole intervened and waved an end to the fight. The fight averaged 1.6 million viewers on HBO.With the victory, Chávez put himself in position for a title-unification fight with recognized World Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez.
Chávez Jr. vs. Martínez
A deal was reached for Chávez and Sergio Martínez to fight on 15 September 2012, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas for the Unified WBC and The Ring Middleweight Championship.Martínez outworked and out-landed Chávez throughout the first 11 rounds of the fight in dominating fashion. Though Chávez had his moments, trapping Martínez in the corner on the ropes, Martínez fought Chávez and used his fast lateral movement to avoid and neutralize Chávez's offensive attack. After 11 dominant rounds from Martinez, Chávez hurt Martínez in the twelfth round, sending him to the canvas halfway through the round. Martínez got up with a little over one minute left in the fight and continued to throw and trade with the Mexican champion, despite being fatigued and clearly hurt. Martínez managed to survive the 12th round. Martínez won the fight by unanimous decision, by the scores of 117–110, 118–109 and 118–109. It was later revealed that Martinez had fought with a broken left hand since the fourth round. A total of 16,939 tickets were sold to generate a live gate of $3,052,475. HBO reported the fight generated 475,000 pay-per-view buys and close to $25 million in revenue. Chávez Jr. received a purse of $3 million, compared to Martinez's $1.4m.
After the fight, Chávez tested positive for cannabis. On 28 February 2013, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for nine months and fined him $900,000. Chávez had been already fined $20,000 and suspended indefinitely by the World Boxing Council.