Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected World Boxing President, Will Guide Sport Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, 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 independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the IOC in 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.
“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized 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 expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC 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 disputes about gender eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner in time for 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 the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a move that the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
