Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as International Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and achieved the highest number of title defenses in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.
“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships 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 Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
