Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as World Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and went on to make 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. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.
That role was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, 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 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, 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 fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself 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 2028.
In February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
