Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing President, Will Guide Sport Towards 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 won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and achieved the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, I proudly won a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he stated. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, 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 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by 2028.
In 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 assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
