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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of World Boxing and lead the sport as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and achieved the most world title defences 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. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing this year.

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

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“As an amateur, I earned with pride a silver medal at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities for men and women in every region of the world.”

The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament 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 LA 2028.