Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and lead the sport as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
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 approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will assume leadership of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
This position used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee 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, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, 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. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.
“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”
The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner in time for 2028.
In the month of February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a move that the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
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