Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, To Steer Sport Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.

That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the IOC 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, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.

“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”

The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were overshadowed by disputes about sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner by the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a move that the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.