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Former world middleweight champion Golovkin is slated to be chosen as the head of World Boxing and guide boxing as it heads toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and achieved the highest number of title defenses in the history of the middleweight division, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. Consequently, he will take charge of the boxing governing body, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.

That role was previously occupied by the International Boxing Association, but it was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his manifesto, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose initial term runs until 2027, promised to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, starting with the 2028 LA Olympics.

“During my amateur career, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that characterize the sport,” he wrote. “In my pro career, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, known for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.

“I am committed to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and creating more chances for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”

The IOC directly managed the boxing events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris 2024 Games. Nonetheless, after last year’s Olympics were marred by rows over gender eligibility, it declared a need for a new partner in time for the 2028 Olympics.

In the month of February, it officially recognized World Boxing, which then hosted the 2025 global tournament in Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a step which the IOC is also evaluating for LA 2028.