Gennady Golovkin to become World Boxing President

Former world champion Gennady Golovkin is set to be appointed president of World Boxing after being named the sole candidate to replace outgoing president Boris van der Vorst, the organisation announced on Friday, 21 November.

Golovkin, a former pound-for-pound boxing standout and 2004 Athens Olympic silver medallist, will assume the role by acclamation at World Boxing’s third annual Congress on Sunday, 23 November. The move follows an independent vetting panel’s review of several applications, with only Golovkin meeting the required criteria.

Van der Vorst, a former Dutch federation chief and the organisation’s first president since its formation in 2023, announced in September that he would not seek re-election. He cited the relentless demands of leading the breakaway body and years of global travel as reasons for stepping down. During his tenure, van der Vorst expanded World Boxing to more than 120 national federations and secured provisional recognition from the International Olympic Committee, ensuring boxing’s reinstatement for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Golovkin has held leadership experience outside the ring, having been appointed president of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee in 2024. Greece’s Mariolis Charilaos, former president of the Hellenic Boxing Federation (2021–2025), also submitted an application but did not meet the vetting panel’s requirements. World Boxing has not disclosed the reasons Charilaos was excluded.

The announcement consolidates Golovkin’s transition from decorated athlete to international sports administrator, marking a new chapter for the organisation tasked with safeguarding boxing’s global and Olympic future.

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