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Former world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in middleweight history, is the only presidential candidate approved by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for Sunday’s election. As a result, 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 IOC in the year 2023 following a series of judging, corruption and governance scandals.

In his manifesto, the boxing veteran, whose first term runs until 2027, promised to rebuild confidence in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic lineup, beginning at the Los Angeles 2028.

“As an amateur, I earned with pride a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, representing not only 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, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to fair play.

“I am dedicated to strengthening governance, ensuring financial transparency, advancing tech solutions to guarantee fair judging, and expanding opportunities for men and women in all corners of the globe.”

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

In February, it granted recognition to the new boxing federation, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For the championships, World Boxing implemented compulsory gender verification, to assess qualification of male and female athletes, a move that the Olympic committee is also considering for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.