Golovkin Poised to Become Elected World Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport Toward 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. As a result, he will take charge of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose initial term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, 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 last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner in time for the 2028 Olympics.
In February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For that event, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
