Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as World Boxing Leader, Will Guide Boxing Towards 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Former world middleweight champion 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.

Golovkin, 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 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 was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

This position used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee 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, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only 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, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.

“I am dedicated to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities for men and women in all corners of the globe.”

The IOC organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a new partner by the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the IOC is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.