Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as World Boxing Leader, To Steer Boxing Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, 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 sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee 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.
This position used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term lasts through 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 proudly won a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am committed to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”
The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for LA 2028.
