🔗 Share this article

Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and achieved the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing recently.

That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“As an amateur, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”

The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after the recent Games were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.

In 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 determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a move that the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.