Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, To Steer Boxing Towards Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences 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 World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
This position used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, 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 characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for men and women in every region of the world.”
The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in 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 evaluating for LA 2028.
