Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he stated. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am committed to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in every region of the world.”
The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.
