Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing President, Will Guide Boxing Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal 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 independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities 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 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.
In February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.