Golovkin Poised to Become Elected International Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” 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 committed to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for men and women in every region of the world.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
