Gennadiy Golovkin will look to help World Boxing keep the sport in the Olympics
Former middleweight world champion Gennadiy Golovkin has officially joined World Boxing’s push to keep the sport in the Olympics for 2028 in Los Angeles, as he has been named to chair an “Olympic commision” with World Boxing, the organization seeking to gain International Olympic Committe (IOC) recognition.
Boxing is currently up in the air the the 2028 Olympics, and was overseen for the 2020 and 2024 competitions in Tokyo and Paris by an IOC “task force” that replaced the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA). In 2023, the IOC completely revoked recognition of the IBA.
But Golovkin — who competed for Kazakhstan and won a silver medal in Athens back in 2004 — hopes to lead the movement for World Boxing’s recognition, as the IOC no longer has any desire to organize the event itself.
“For me, personally, as well as for all the sports world, it is important to preserve boxing as an Olympic sport, and this will be my top priority,” Golovkin said in a statement. “I also intend to work closely with the IOC on issues of boxing’s commitment to the Olympic values of honesty, fairness and transparency.”
Golovkin, 42, was named President of the National Olympic Committee for his home country earlier this year. His professional boxing career saw him go 42-2-1 (37 KO) over 16-plus years, with his last fight coming just over two years ago. He has never formally announced an in-ring retirement, but the wide belief is he will not fight again.
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