Golovkin Poised to Become Chosen as International Boxing Leader, To Steer Boxing Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin will be chosen as the head of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.
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 sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will assume leadership 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 banished by the IOC in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.
In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose first term lasts through 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“As an amateur, I proudly won a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.
In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a move that the IOC is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.