Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, Will Guide Boxing Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his platform, 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 lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he stated. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.

“I am dedicated to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for men and women in every region of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed 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 the championships, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.