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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and achieved the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for amateur Olympic boxing recently.

This position was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, but it was banished by the IOC in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

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

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he stated. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.

“I am committed 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 International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred 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 ran the 2025 world championships in Liverpool. For the championships, the organization introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.