Son of boxing great who was arrested on gun charges and robbed by party girls is fighting Jake Paul
But perhaps his greatest crime of all would be losing to Jake Paul.
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The son of Julio Cesar Sr - Mexico's most beloved fighter - has lived a colourful as well as controversial life and career.
He grew up surrounded by his legendary father's success, watching his dad win world titles in three divisions.
And he was thrust into the national limelight when he was just a boy - fighting in a televised exhibition against the son of boxer Jorge Paez.
Chavez started boxing again at 17 and turned professional the same year in 2003 - despite having NO amateur background.
The second generation star was forced to learn on the job and had up to 11 BOUTS in 2004 - under the microscope of a nation.
By 2011, Chavez Jr was WBC middleweight world champion - beating Sebastian Zbik - after cramming 45 fights into eight years.
He made three successful defences of the famous green and gold belt - which his dad helped make so prestigious - including a win over Ireland's Andy Lee.
But in Chavez Jr's next fight - against Argentine Sergio Martinez - the wheels started to fall off.
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The 160lb champion was trained by the esteemed Freddie Roach at that time, sharing the gym with Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao.
But Chavez Jr proved hard to deal with, setting his own training times and often no-showing Roach - all of which was captured by camera crews.
Jake Paul ranks cruiserweight world champions and reveals he is in talks with two for shock title fight
In one scene, Roach is waiting in the gym and after hours of no-showing, he is informed Chavez Jr would not be coming to the gym.
Roach said: "He doesn't want to train? What the f***. No, I have never seen anything like this. Never."
Years later, Roach revealed: "When you saw me on HBO waiting at the gym, that happened 31 times, but didn't I want to kill the guy.
"The only reason I stayed was because his father asked me to stay and I respected his dad.
"He kept telling me to stay, that he would show up, but he never did. He sparred five days for that fight, he did the mitts four days for that fight.
"He ate Cheerios with his underwear on at home more than he was in the gym.
"I love Julio, he's a great guy but I'm disappointed that he didn't show his best that night."
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Chavez Jr would have an on and off relationship with Roach over the following years and at one point hired Spanish-speaking American Robert Garcia.
Garcia was helped by Los Angeles-based Ricky Funez - and the two also shared baby-sitting duties to try to control party animal Chavez Jr.
Funez said: 'Me and Robert are good friends from when we were trying to train Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who was a total rebel we had to try to control together.
'One day it was my turn to look after him and I went to knock on his hotel door and he was gone - he had jumped out of the second-floor window to go party, it took me two f***ing days to find him.'
By 2017, Chavez Jr had positioned himself into a huge all-Mexican pay-per-view clash against superstar champ Canelo Alvarez.
Chavez Jr - who had again switched trainers this time to Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain - agreed to bet his entire purse with Canelo.
With that kind of confidence, fans would have been forgiven for believing the undisciplined son-of-a-legend had changed his ways.
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But after 12 rounds with Canelo - of which one judge failed to score anything in Chavez Jr's favour - it became apparent nothing was different.
Chavez Jr was guaranteed $3million (£2.3m) for the one-sided beating - and celebrated in style.
He was captured partying with girls dressed in lingerie rubbing his chest in a Las Vegas hotel room.
Chavez Jr - married to his wife Frida with whom he shares daughter Julia and son Junior with - had to deny that they were prostitutes.
He said: "I would never pay to sleep with a woman.
"I know I am very trusting, and it was an error, but it's too much to say I'm the worst and that I am a bad example for kids.'
Denying allegations of cheating, the boxer added: 'Money comes and goes, but I want to make it clear to my wife that nothing happened with the women in the video.'
Frida - who stuck by Chavez Jr and remains married to him to this day - accused the women of stealing her husband's £30,000 Hublot watch.
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Not only that, she even alleged that his $3m fight cheque was also stolen.
The married couple allegedly met a British man and a group of women in the hotel bar on May 8 before she went upstairs to look after their daughter.
Frida said they were with the boxer until 5 or 6am - but when she checked the room the next morning the items had gone.
Frida told ESPN Deportes: "I had the cheque on the table and when I saw that it was not there, I open the papers and it was not there, nor was the [watch]."
The cheque was later retrieved.
Chavez Jr's career hit a standstill after losing to Canelo, managing only two bouts a year and things worsened in the ring.
Against Daniel Jacobs in 2019, Chavez Jr was pelted with beer and food by the Arizona crowd after he QUIT in five rounds.
He first cited a hand injury before his team blamed a busted nose - but his embarrassed dad was left head in hands in frustration.
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Chavez Sr battled cocaine addiction throughout his career and needed his son to check him into rehab - saving his life.
But the roles reversed later in life and Chavez Jr was regularly in and out of rehab as he fought substance abuse himself.
His dad said last year: "Honestly, I thought Julio was going to die at any moment.
"It was a constant worry, every day wondering if he would wake up or not."
Chavez Jr was even in line to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul in 2022 - but he was in a facility at the time.
Paul posted: "(He) was near the top of the list. But unfortunately he is going through rehab. Hopefully in the future."
A year prior, Chavez Jr suffered a shock loss to UFC legend Anderson Silva, who was beaten by Paul in 2022.
Things looked to hit an all-time low in January 2024 when Chavez Jr was arrested in LA on gun charges.
According to police, he unlawfully possessed two AR-style ghost rifles and was later freed from custody on a $50,000 bond.
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But Chavez Jr was forced to enter the residential treatment program.
Thankfully, the troubled fighter has turned things around over the past year and returned to the ring last July.
He beat ex-UFC star Uriah Hall, 40, the night Paul stopped bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry in Florida and has been a year sober.
Chavez Jr told us: 'I have had too many problems in the past with substances and drinking and things like that.
'So I have for a couple of years tried to stop but it's hard for me to stop alone. So I go to one of the places here after a problem that I had.
'And after that, I'm continuously sober for the first time. I have been for one year a month. I really don't remember my bad days and I enjoy these days.'
I haven't seen him train at this level for many years. If he keeps this up until the fight, there is no way Jake Paul is going to beat my son.
Julio Cesar Chavez Sr
Paul's last fight was as controversial as it was commercially successful when heavyweight great Mike Tyson came out of retirement aged 58.
Still over 100 MILLION watched on Netflix - prompting Paul to enter shock talks to fight Canelo and lightweight champ Gervonta Davis.
But after both collapsed, the American celebrity re-entered talks with Chavez Jr - who has been on his hit-list since 2021.
Paul told SunSport: "Chavez and I have been going back and forth for a long time and he's always been a great opponent on the list of someone that I wanted to fight.
"And now it made perfect sense to go up against him as a former world champion and just continuing to further my resume and get more time under the lights."
Chavez Jr once claimed he would RETIRE and forfeit his entire purse if he lost to Paul - who was a regular on Disney Channel six years ago.
So the nepo baby puts his and his father's legacy on the line on June 28 in Anaheim in a 200lb cruiserweight clash on DAZN PPV.
And Chavez Sr boasted: "I haven't seen him train at this level for many years. If he keeps this up until the fight, there is no way Jake Paul is going to beat my son."
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