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Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

This position used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a string of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.

“I am committed to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances 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 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by 2028.

In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.