🔗 Share this article

Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 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 autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, 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 International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

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

The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after the recent Games were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it declared a need for 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, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for LA 2028.