Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, Will Guide Boxing Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder 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 won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the highest number of title defenses 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 assume leadership of the boxing governing body, 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 banished by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, recognized 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 men and women in every region of the world.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
