The two-time middleweight world champion and 2004 Olympic silver medallist, Gennadiy Golovkin, has been named the new President of World Boxing at its Congress 2025 in Rome.
The Kazakh was the only candidate for the role on the final ballot paper and was named President by acclamation at the Congress.
Other candidates had put themselves forward in October 2025 to contest the Presidential election, however Golovkin was the only person approved to stand by an independent Vetting Panel, which assessed the backgrounds of all the candidates.
The Vetting Panel is made up of three independent, external experts and supported by the leading independent provider of sport-specific arbitration and mediation services, Sport Resolutions, and is designed to ensure World Boxing adheres to the highest standards of governance by providing independent, third party checking and oversight of Congress and the election process.
Golovkin will serve an initial three-year term and succeeds Dutchman, Boris van der Vorst, who did not seek re-election following the completion of his term.
Gennadiy Golovkin, said: “It is a privilege to be elected as the new President of World Boxing. But this is just the beginning. Starting today, athletes will be at the heart of every decision we make. On the road to LA28, we will restore trust in Olympic boxing to secure our place in Brisbane and beyond. Now it’s time to move forward as one united boxing family.”
The Presidential election was one of four votes at the Congress which included one position as Vice President and two seats on the World Boxing Executive Board.
In the election for Vice President, Ryan O’Shea from Canada secured a second term with 57 per cent of the vote in a two-person contest with Thailand’s Chaiwat Chotima.
The election for the Executive Board had six candidates and saw Michael Muller from Germany and Tatsuya Nakama from Japan emerge with the most votes.
The four winners of today’s elections will join the World Boxing Executive Board which is made-up of the President; three Vice Presidents; four Executive Board members; four Continental Confederation Presidents; two Athlete Representatives; the Chairs of the Committees for Sport and Competition, Medical and Anti-Doping, and Finance and Audit.
Congress 2025 was chaired by World Boxing Vice President, Dinah Glykidis. In accordance, with World Boxing’s Statutes, 59 National Federations were eligible to take part in the voting which was conducted in-person and online and overseen by an independent, third-party organization. Scrutineers were onsite to validate the veracity of the election processes and ensure candidates were treated in a fair and equitable manner.
World Boxing Vice President and Chair of Congress 2025, Dinah Glykidis, said: “Congress is the ultimate authority of World Boxing and to have so many of our members be able to participate in it today and express their views on the future direction of the organization is very important, and a positive sign that World Boxing is continuing to deliver on its commitment to transparency and rigorous governance.
“Since it was launched in April 2023, World Boxing has achieved an enormous amount in a short space of time and I am confident that with our new President and the Executive Borad that we now have in place, following today’s elections, that it will continue to go from strength to strength as we build towards the next Olympic Games at LA28.”
Other business concluded at the World Boxing Congress 2025 included:
• Acceptance of a series of amendments to the Statutes of World Boxing following provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in February 2025
• Ratification by Congress of the membership applications of 49 National Federations to join World Boxing
• Acceptance of a series of proposals which included the incorporation of World Boxing’s Sex Eligibility Policy into the Competition Rules and associated operational documents
• Approval of the 2025 Accounts and the provisional budget for 2026
• The acceptance of Panama’s bid to host World Boxing’s next annual Congress in 2026
World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on February 25, 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.
Born in 1982, Gennadiy Golovkin is widely considered to be Kazakhstan’s greatest ever boxer. He won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 before entering the professional ranks where he won the middleweight world title twice in a career made-up of 42 wins, two losses and a draw. He has been the President of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee since 2024.
The people that make up the Executive Board of World Boxing are:
Office Name
President Gennadiy Golovkin (KAZ)
Vice President Ryan O’Shea (CAN)
Vice President Matt Holt (GBR)
Vice President Dinah Glykidis (AUS)
Executive Board Micchael Muller (GER)
Executive Board Victorico Vargas (PHI)
Executive Board Tatsuya Nakama (JPN)
Executive Board Marcos Candido de Brito (BRA)
Athlete Representative (Chair) Richard Torres Jr. (USA)
President, Asian Boxing Lars Brovil (DEN)
President, Oceania Boxing Beulah Daunakamakama (FJI)
President, Panamerican Boxing Elise Seignolle (USA)
Chair Sport and Competition Committee Hernan Salvo (ARG)
Chair Medical and Anti-Doping Committee Dr Armando Sanchez (USA)
Chair Finance and audit Committee Julia Felton (AUS)
Further information on World Boxing is available at www.worldboxing.org
