Golovkin Set to Be Elected International Boxing Leader, To Steer Sport 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 prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.

That role was previously occupied 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 platform, the boxing veteran, whose first term lasts through 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“As an amateur, I proudly won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline 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 committed to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, 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 Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.

In February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for LA 2028.