Gennady Golovkin has been elected president of World Boxing in Rome. He is tasked with securing the future of Olympic boxing.
Former world champion Gennady Golovkin has been elected as the new president of World Boxing.
The Kazakh was elected by acclamation on Sunday at the world association’s annual congress in Rome and is expected to help rehabilitate Olympic boxing in the long term. He was the only remaining candidate.
Golovkin: “It’s a privilege”
“It’s a privilege to be elected as the new president of World Boxing. But this is only the beginning,” said 43-year-old Golovkin, who was twice unified middleweight world champion during his career and won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics.
“On the road to LA28, we will restore confidence in Olympic boxing to secure our place in Brisbane and beyond. Now is the time to move forward as a united boxing family.” Golovkin succeeds Boris van der Vorst, who did not run for re-election after two years as founding president. Under the Dutchman’s leadership, World Boxing had received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the upcoming 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Gender tests cause a stir
However, the first world championships under the umbrella of the association in early September were accompanied by controversy surrounding the gender tests that were introduced at short notice.
The World Boxing Association was founded in April 2023 with the aim of securing the Olympic future of boxing after the Russian-led IBA federation was excluded by the IOC due to numerous scandals.
