World Boxing appoints Gennadiy Golovkin president of its Olympic Commission

Astana, Sep 26 (EFE).- World Boxing has appointed former Kazakh boxer Gennadiy Golovkin, two-time middleweight world champion and Olympic runner-up in 2004, as president of its new Olympic Commission.

World Boxing brings together 44 national federations that have turned their backs on the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The International Olympic Committee expelled the IBA for multiple irregularities. World Boxing intends to establish itself as the new federation recognized by the IOC and guarantee the presence of the sport at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Golovkin, 42, is currently the president of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan.

“Preserving boxing as an Olympic sport will be my top priority,” he said. “I also intend to work closely with the IOC on issues related to boxing's commitment to the Olympic values of honesty, fairness, and transparency.”

The IOC took over the organization of Olympic and pre-Olympic tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games, but has announced that it will not do so again for 2028. The committee said that if there is no reliable federation the sport will be dropped from the Los Angeles program.

World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands said that Golovkin, voted the world's best boxer in 2017, “is one of the most globally significant boxers of the last decade and having his support, experience, expertise, and profile is a major boost for the organization.”

“He will be a great asset and I look forward to working closely with him to fulfill our mission of ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement,” van der Vorst said. EFE

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Kazakhstan's Gennadi Golovkin (L) during his world title fight against Mexico's Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in Las Vegas on September 17, 2022. EFE/EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT