🔗 Share this article

Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel 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 former international boxing body, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust 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 second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“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 every region of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.

In February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.