🔗 Share this article

Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 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 take charge of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in every region of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in 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 LA 2028.