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Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s independent vetting panel for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

This position used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in the year 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his platform, the boxing veteran, whose first term runs until 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he stated. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, developing technology 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 Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it granted recognition to 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 determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.