Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing President, Will Guide Sport Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, 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 International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.
“As an amateur, I proudly won a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only 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 honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am committed to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over gender eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
