UPDATED INFO) Boxing Match at University Texas El Paso Canceled by Fear it Would Draw Rival Cartels

UPDATED INFO AT BOTTOM "WHo is Frida Munoz?"

Concern derived from a federal risk assessment report caused the fight cancellation, however they reconsidered and now the fight will go on.  Also reported was part of the reason for concern could be the identity of Chavez's girlfriend, Frida Munoz Roman. She was the common law wife of the late son of drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. But Joseph Arabit, the special agent in charge of El Paso for the Drug Enforcement Agency, said he wasn't aware of the Chavez-Roman relationship and didn't see it as an issue. …..Paz Chivis

Posted by Havana on Borderland Beat Forum

Chavez on left

From Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas — A federal risk assessment of a now-canceled West Texas boxing match predicted it would draw leaders from two rival drug cartels, but noted the cartels had declared the event a "neutral zone," a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Friday.

The official, who is familiar with the contents of the report, spoke on condition of anonymity because the official isn't authorized to release the information. The official said the report was done by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and given to University of Texas at El Paso police.

University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa said Tuesday that the planned June 16 fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee couldn't be held at the university's Sun Bowl in El Paso because of security risks. Cigarroa had released no details of the risk assessment report other than to say it contained a "higher than normal" security risk.

(Frida Munoz Roman Below)

 The report said leadership of both the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels would be present at the fight, but specified there were no specific threats to the security of the city, the event or those attending it, according to the law enforcement official. The cartels have waged a bloody war in Ciudad Juarez across the Rio Grande from El Paso for control of drug smuggling routes and other criminal enterprises in the city.

University of Texas at El Paso confirmed Friday that university police had received a federal report earlier this month, but declined to discuss its contents.

Homeland Security Investigations "sent a security assessment to UT System who sent it to us and it wasn't for another two weeks they (UT System) decided to cancel", said Veronique Masterson, a public information officer at UTEP.

El Paso city spokeswoman Julie Lozano declined comment and a University of Texas System spokesman did not immediately return telephone and e-mail messages.

Cigarroa's decision to cancel the fight without releasing any details angered El Paso officials and state lawmakers, who accused him of fostering a culture of fear that the city has been overrun by cartel-related violence. Despite the drug war raging in Mexico, the city ranks among the safest in the nation in terms of violent crime.

A day after the announcement, local state and federal law enforcement officials in El Paso, including a representative of ICE, said they had picked up no intelligence of a credible threat or security risk associated with having the fight in El Paso.

    (Lee and Chavez Boxing Promo Video Below 8 Minutes Fight is June 16)

 

Joseph Arabit, the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso division, said his agency had not received any information of specific threats surrounding the boxing match.

Pressure has been mounting on Cigarroa to reverse his decision. State Sen. Jose Rodriguez, an El Paso Democrat, urged the university board of regents to overrule the chancellor when they meet in Austin next week.

Fight promoter Bob Arum has called El Paso a natural place to host a fight with a popular Mexican boxer like Chavez, Jr. The 51,500-seat Sun Bowl drew more than 40,000 fans to watch Oscar de la Hoya fight in 1998.

Link to Havana's post HERE

FRIDA POSING WITH CHAPO'S GRANDDAUGHTER

Who is Frida Munoz Lopez?

1.Frida Munoz Lopez is currently the girlfriend of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. , middleweight champion of the World Boxing Council ( WBC ).

 2.Had a daughter by Edgar Guzman , son of drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman , who was gunned down in 2008.

 3.On Tuesday, Frida joined the boxer in the press conference in which the promoter of the fight would take place in the Sun Bowl in Texas on June 16, Bob Arum , expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision of having canceled.

 4.As the mother of the granddaughter of "Chapo" Guzman , the Texas authorities presume a link to the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel , also known as the Pacific Cartel .

 5.Frida Munoz was the one who identified Edgar Guzman when he was shot during an attack in the parking lot of a shopping center in Culiacan, Sinaloa

Source: LPP

Reversing the cancellation LINK HERE