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Ex-middleweight world titleholder Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make 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 assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for amateur Olympic boxing recently.

This position was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose initial term runs until 2027, promised 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 proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to fair play.

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

The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator by the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, the organization 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.