ROME (AP) — Former boxing champion Gennadiy Golovkin, who fought in some of the sport's most lucrative bouts, is set to take over as president of the new body aiming to run the Olympic tournaments at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Golovkin had been due to run against Greek official Harilaos Mariolis in a vote in Rome for the World Boxing presidency but the organization said Friday he was now the only eligible candidate following a vetting process.
“I have been informed that the only other candidate for the position of president ... has been declared ineligible,” Golovkin said in a statement issued via a representative. “I would like to acknowledge the work of the Independent Vetting Panel of World Boxing in helping to ensure that all elections take place in a fair and transparent manner, according to the highest standards of governance in Olympic sport. Although I am now the only candidate for the position of president, I am still looking forward to meeting the delegates on Sunday and presenting my strategy to lead World Boxing over the next four years.”
The former middleweight champion from Kazakhstan was widely considered the frontrunner after he headed a World Boxing delegation to rebuild ties with the International Olympic Committee, which had hinted at removing boxing from the Olympic program for 2028 before putting it back on the program in March.
Golovkin won an Olympic silver medal in 2004 and, after turning pro, was a longtime world champion who finished with a 42-2-1 record.
World Boxing, which launched in 2023 amid a rift between the IOC and the International Boxing Association, didn't clarify why Mariolis was no longer a candidate.
World Boxing is due to be involved with an Olympic tournament for the first time in 2028. The IOC took the unusual step of organizing the last two boxing tournaments itself at the Tokyo and Paris Games following its split with the IBA, which it expelled from the Olympic movement in 2023.
That followed years of concerns by the IOC over IBA governance, financial transparency and the fairness of judging in Olympic bouts. IBA still runs its own competitions outside of the Olympic qualification system.
That all leaves World Boxing's new president with work to do on rebuilding confidence in amateur boxing. It also faces a likely legal battle after Olympic champion Imane Khelif filed an appeal in August against a World Boxing decision barring her from upcoming events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing.
“Trust is the main word in our manifesto,” Golovkin told The Associated Press on Friday ahead of World Boxing’s announcement, arguing his own record gave him a boxer’s perspective on the issues. “Try to understand me from the perspective of an athlete, not of an investor, not of a politician or of a big businessman.”
Mariolis didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The Greek boxing federation, where Mariolis was previously president, said it had no involvement in the candidacy, which it described as a “personal initiative”.
Associated Press writer Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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