Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as World Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin will be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games 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 Sunday’s election. As a result, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose initial term runs until 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” 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 dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, 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 the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.
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 that event, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
