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Former world middleweight champion Golovkin will be elected president of the global boxing federation and guide boxing as it heads toward the 2028 Olympic Games in LA.

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 Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing recently.

That role used to be held by the International Boxing Association, but it was banished by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic lineup, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.

“As an amateur, I earned with pride 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 integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

“I am committed to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to guarantee fair judging, and creating more chances for men and women 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 overshadowed by rows over gender eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to determine the eligibility of boxers of both sexes, a move that the IOC is also evaluating for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.