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 Junior 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 and less everything he’s being accused of.”

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

Gertz Manero said Chavez Junior’s lawyers have requested at least five injunctions in Mexico, which have been rejected because the boxer is still in the U.S.

SPORTS WRITING

Dennis Georgatos, a longtime sports writer for The Associated Press and the San Jose Mercury News and author of multiple books on the 49ers, has died at age 70.

Georgatos died on June 25 following a battle with brain cancer, his family said. He spent his final weeks at his vineyard near Lodi, as he visited with family and friends.

Known both for his congeniality and his wit, Georgatos spent more than four decades as a reporter, working up until his cancer diagnosis in November. He covered sports in California for nearly three decades and spent another 17 years covering Colorado’s professional and college teams.

He began his journalism career at United Press International in Los Angeles before joining The Associated Press. After a decade in San Diego, he moved to San Francisco for an expanded sports role. Around 2000, he joined the Mercury News as their 49ers beat writer, a job he had until 2008.

Georgatos wrote several books on the 49ers, including “Stadium Stories: San Francisco 49ers,” and “Game of My Life San Francisco 49ers: Memorable Stories of 49ers Football.”

Georgatos spent the last 17 years of his career as a sports freelancer for the AP in Colorado.

Georgatos is survived by three sons — Gregory Georgatos of Rocklin, California; Daniel Georgatos of San Jose; and Cole Schafer of Littleton, Colorado.

NHL

Cam York and the Philadelphia Flyers agreed to terms on a five-year contract worth $25.75 million, with re-signing the restricted free agent defenseman.

York, 25, will count $5.15 million against the salary cap through the 2029-30 NHL season.

Tyler Johnson, 34, has announced his retirement after playing 13 NHL seasons and winning the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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.