Former boxing champ Chavez suspended nine months, fined $900,000 for drug violation

Now that’s one expensive doobie!

Former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was fined $900,000 and suspended nine months Thursday by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Chavez tested positive for marijuana after his Sept. 15 loss to Sergio Martinez at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The fine amounts to 30 percent of Chavez’s $3 million purse from the fight. It’s a record penalty for a drug violation, surpassing the $100,000 Fernando Vargas was assessed for using steroids before his 2002 fight against Oscar De La Hoya.

The most a boxer has been fined by the NAC was the $3 million levied against heavyweight Mike Tyson after he bit the ear of Evander Holyfield and was eventually disqualified in their June 28, 1997, fight at the MGM Grand. Tyson, who made $30 million for the fight, was fined 10 percent of his purse, which at the time was the maximum the NAC could fine a competitor.

Chavez and his Las Vegas-based attorney, Don Campbell, sought leniency from the commission during Thursday’s meeting at Cashman Center. Chavez, who participated via telephone conference call from Mexico, apologized for his actions.

“I was told it would help my stress,” Chavez said through an interpreter, admitting he used the drug eight to nine days before defending his WBC middleweight title against Martinez, a fight he lost by unanimous decision. “A personal friend of mine from Los Angeles suggested I try it.

“I am sorry. I made a big mistake. I let a lot of people down. This hasn’t been easy for me. I am willing to accept any penalty. I just want to get back in the ring as soon as possible.”

Chavez’s suspension is retroactive to Sept. 15, meaning he can apply for a license after June 15.

Campbell said there’s a possible legal avenue his client could pursue regarding the fine.

“The suspension is what it is,” Campbell said. “But the fine, by any measure, is excessive. I haven’t had a chance to talk to my client, but I believe there is legal recourse he can take. It’s an issue of proportionality. They used the proportion of his purse but not the proportion of the offense. In California, where he used the substance, this is, at most, a $100 fine.”

This was Chavez’s second time before the commission on a drug issue. In 2009, he admitted using furosemide, a diuretic that is banned for use in competition. He was suspended seven months and fined 10 percent of his $100,000 purse.

The fact that Chavez was a repeat offender, though for a different substance, seemed to concern the commission. Virtually every member of the five-person panel referenced it in remarks during the open deliberation.

The panel voted 3-2 for the fine and suspension. Commissioners Bill Brady, Pat Lundvall and Francisco Aguilar voted for the motion, with Skip Avansino and T.J. Day dissenting.

“We have a responsibility to our history and to the athletes we’ve regulated in the past,” Avansino said.

And while all the commissioners gave Chavez credit for being forthright, that still didn’t get him off the hook.

“The rules of our commission are well-publicized,” Lundvall said. “They may differ from the rules in other states, but they are the rules of this state.”

Also Thursday, the commission placed boxer Mickey Bey on temporary suspension pending a disciplinary hearing after he tested positive for excessive testosterone in his system following his Feb. 2 knockout of Robert Rodriguez at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Bey’s testosterone ratio was 30/1, five times Nevada’s acceptable limit of 6/1.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.