Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the IOC in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 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 proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am committed to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over gender eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, 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 boxers of both sexes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for LA 2028.
