Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Elected World Boxing President, Will Guide Boxing Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate endorsed 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 used to be held by the former international boxing body, 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 initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to restore trust 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 earned with pride a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work 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 clean competition.
“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 IOC directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by disputes about gender eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
