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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

The boxing legend, who won Olympic silver in the 2004 Athens Games and went on to make the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate endorsed by the sport’s independent vetting panel for the upcoming vote. Consequently, 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 former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in the year 2023 following a series of controversies involving judging, corruption, and management.

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term lasts through 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, starting with 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 define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“I am committed to improving oversight, guaranteeing open finances, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”

The International Olympic Committee directly managed the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, after last year’s Olympics were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner by 2028.

In February, it officially recognized the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, the organization implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of boxers of both sexes, a step which the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.