Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as International Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
This position used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also evaluating for LA 2028.
