 He is ranked as the 17th best boxer of all time, pound for pound, by BoxRec, #24 on ESPN's list of "50 Greatest Boxers of All Time", and 18th on "The Ring"'s "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years".In 2010 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011.He is the father of current boxers Omar Chávez and former WBC middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr.

Julio César Chávez was born on July 12, 1962, in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico.