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Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

Golovkin, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 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 the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.

This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term runs until 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “In my pro career, I won numerous world titles, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“I am committed to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for men and women in every region of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after the recent Games were marred by disputes about gender eligibility, it said it needed a new partner 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, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a move that the Olympic committee is also evaluating for LA 2028.