Gennady Golovkin Poised to Become Elected International Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will take charge of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
That role used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“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. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a move that the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
