Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as International Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
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 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.
“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, 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 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.
