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Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

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

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

In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term lasts through 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and ensure boxing’s future in the Olympic programme, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I won numerous world titles, known for my honesty, sportsmanship, and dedication to clean competition.

“I am committed to strengthening governance, guaranteeing open finances, 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 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were overshadowed by rows over sex eligibility, it said it needed a new partner 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 that event, 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 LA 2028.