Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as World Boxing President, To Steer Sport Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved 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 the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
This position used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term runs until 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“As an amateur, I earned with pride a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for men and women in every region of the world.”
The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a step which the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
