Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the most world title defences 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. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed 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 proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, 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, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner by 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
