Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as World Boxing President, To Steer Sport Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and achieved the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose first term runs until 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by 2028.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.