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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is slated to be elected president of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

Golovkin, who won Olympic silver in Athens in 2004 and achieved the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the sole nominee for president approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will assume leadership of the boxing governing body, which became the governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.

That role was previously occupied by the former international boxing body, 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 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.

“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the Olympic Games Athens 2004, representing not only Kazakhstan but the values of fair play and discipline that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in every region of the world.”

The IOC 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 new partner in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament 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 move that the IOC is also considering for LA 2028.