Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, 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. “In my pro career, 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 expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.