Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
This position was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline 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 fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by 2028.
In February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a move that the Olympic committee is also considering for LA 2028.
