Barely into the new year, former boxer Julios Cesar Chavez Jr. has thrust himself back into the tabloid limelight.
In a series of vitriolic videos posted on his social media, the son of Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez castigated his father, calling him “trash” and asking him to be put in jail.
Chavez Jr., who once briefly held the WBC middleweight title, seemed to take issue with his father’s recent (Dec. 31) post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he expressed hope that his son would stop “talking so much nonsense.”
In the videos, Chavez Jr., who has reportedly struggled with drug addictions in the past few years, also accused his father of involuntarily confining him to a treatment center and “keeping him kidnapped for three years.” Chavez Jr. did not stop there. He also claimed his father beat his mother, Amalia Carrasco, throughout their union and that Chavez Jr.’s own life was also at risk.
“My father tore my mother to pieces, he beat her, he humiliated her, she is traumatized, she can no longer do anything,” Chavez Jr. said. “She was damaged for the rest of her life by the same guy who is damaging me, a f—— bully, who says he wants to help me.”
TMZ reported in November that Chavez Jr. was admitted into a psych ward in the Los Angeles area after he purportedly ingested a dozen pills.
Chavez Sr., who had his own battles with addiction, has spoken publicly about feeling “sorry” for his son and his son’s children.
“I have lived it first-hand with my sons Julio and Omar,” Chavez Sr. told DAZN last year. “Unfortunately, even though they saw all my stumbles and they saw all my drug addiction, it seems that they followed my behavior and for me, it has been extremely complicated and difficult because I know what it’s like to be locked up.”
Chavez Jr. last fought in December of 2021, defeating David Zegarra by unanimous decision. Before that, he lost a high-profile “crossover” fight against UFC legend Anderson Silva by eight-round split decision.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.