Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing President, To Steer Sport Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing recently.
This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am committed to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after the recent Games were overshadowed by disputes about sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for LA 2028.
