Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as World Boxing President, Will Guide Sport Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and achieved the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.
This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.
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 introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the IOC is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
