As a professional, Julio César Chávez 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 Chávez 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 El Heraldo newspaper. “My son will be anything you want, anything, but he is not a criminal ...”

Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s Attorney General, said on Sunday that the investigation against Chávez 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 Culiacan, 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.”

Chávez Sr. was considered one of the best Mexican boxers of all time; a world champion at three divisions. In the 1980s and ‘90s he was a huge celebrity who mixed with drug dealers. He claimed in the past to have been friends with drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

Gertz Manero said Chavez Jr.’s lawyers 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.

The Department of Homeland Security said officials determined Chávez 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,” the elder Chavez said. “Yes, he knows those people, but that doesn’t mean I’m a drug trafficker. Let’s trust the law.”

NBA

The Indiana Pacers won’t be rushing guard Tyrese Haliburton back to the court next season as he recovers from a torn right Achilles tendon.

Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said Monday in a news conference that he has no doubt Haliburton “will be back better than ever. ... He will not play next year, though. We would not jeopardize that now. Don’t get any hopes up that he will play.”

Haliburton suffered his Achilles injury early in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He had surgery June 23 at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, the Pacers announced.

It was a historic postseason for Haliburton, who turned in an array of buzzer-beating winners, incredible plays and some unprecedented stat lines. The Oklahoma City Thunder were crowned champions after beating the Pacers 103-91.

Haliburton recently wrote on social media: “And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.”

Pritchard told reporters Monday that Haliburton’s mentality “just shows you what kind of kid he is.”

“If you’re asking me, would I have him do it over and over? I would not. I would not,” Pritchard said. “If I knew that he was going to get hurt, I would sacrifice that game because I care for the kid so much and want him to have an incredible career.”

Adding a player of Kevin Durant’s caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.

Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.

General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.

Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.

“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone said. “He’s just — he’s really good. He’s super-efficient. He had a great year last year. He’s obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasn’t really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us.”

NHL

Tyler Johnson has announced his retirement after playing 13 NHL seasons and winning the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Johnson called it a career in a lengthy message posted on social media Monday. Johnson battled injuries in recent years and is set to turn 35 on July 29.

“As a short kid from a small town, I saw my chances of playing in the NHL as very slim,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “But my family — my parents, Ken and Debbie, and my grandparents — believed in me when doubt clouded my mind. Their unwavering faith turned that dream into reality.”

Listed at 5-foot-8 and 191 pounds, Johnson won at just about ever level, capturing the Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup championships in 2008 with his hometown Spokane Chiefs and the Calder Cup championship with Norfolk of the American Hockey League in 2012.

The NHL brought more success, as he skated in 863 regular-season and playoff games since debuting in the league in 2013, putting up 498 points. Johnson was part of the Lightning’s core when they reached the final in 2015 and helped them hoist the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21.

Cam York and the Philadelphia Flyers agreed to terms Monday on a five-year contract worth $25.75 million, with re-signing the restricted free agent defenseman completing perhaps the team’s last important piece of offseason business.

York, 25, will count $5.15 million against the salary cap through the 2029-30 NHL season. That price could turn out to be a bargain with the upper limit rising from $88 million this past season to $113.5 million by 2027-28.