Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as International Boxing President, Will Guide Boxing Toward 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 Athens in 2004 and achieved 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 assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.
That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing 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, 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 International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by disputes about gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.
In February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
