Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as World Boxing Leader, To Steer Boxing Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For that event, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
