Gennadiy Golovkin takes role with World Boxing!
It’s fair to say that the Boxing at the 2024 Olympics was overshadowed not by what was happening inside the ring but by several issues outside of it, including the governance of the sport, the split within amateur boxing between the IBA and World Boxing, the fact the IOC essentially ran boxing at the Olympics and, of course, the gender controversy.
The big worry, for many, was that 2024 could end up being the final Olympics to have boxing, at least for the foreseeable future, as the effects of an Umar Kremlev run IBA has gone head to head with the IOC, and their leader Thomas Bach.
Today however there were two major stories that could lead to boxing being kept on at the 2028 games in LA, and surprisingly they both had to do with Kazakhstan, one of the powerhouses of amateur boxing.
The first bit of news was that former Middleweight kingpin Gennadiy Golovkin (42-2-1, 37) [Геннадий Геннадьевич Головкин] had been appointed as the new chairperson World Boxing’s Olympic Commission. A move that sees someone widely respected within the sport, both as an amateur and professional, being given a major role, and being put in a position that showed World Boxing was serious about keeping boxing on the Olympic schedule, and helping completely replace IBA, who had long been the only body in amateur boxing.
World Boxing explained “Golovkin will work closely with World Boxing’s leadership to manage the organisation’s relationship with the IOC and oversee the pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the sport programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Game.” Of course he won’t be doing that alone and World Boxing added “Other members of the commission will be added in the coming weeks to ensure it is diverse and representative of the global boxing community.”
To keep boxing at the Olympics the organisation will need to show that their organisation is financially sustainable and can bring in enough countries to convince the IOC to accept it as the body for boxing. It also needs to avoid the pitfalls of IBA, which had major issues with transparency, including the gender issues that marred the past Olympics, fairness, and honesty, which Golovkin had stated he will be working on alongside the IOC.
Whilst Golovkin’s role at the IOC will get headlines, and understandably so, what was more telling is that Kazakhstan, where Golovkin is from, has now applied to join World Boxing. The news of that application was shared on social media, with Boxing Kazakhstan sharing the following statement
“Kazakhstan Boxing Federation made an important decision as a result of long discussions and expertise.
Kazakhstan has submitted an official application to join the World Boxing organization.
First of all, this decision is directly related to the Olympic future of domestic boxers
Now the issue of staying boxing in the Olympic program is being discussed at the level of the IOC. We are ready to work together with all countries to keep boxing in the program of the Olympic Games.
We believe that this decision will allow further development of boxing.
During the meeting with the chairman of the World Boxing Olympic Commission, the president of the National Olympic Committee, Gennady Golovkin, we discussed ways of development of domestic boxing" - Shahmurat Mutalip.
World Boxing - International Boxing Federation. This organization was established in April 2023. Currently, it includes national federations of 44 countries.”
What makes Kazakhstan’s decision such a key one is the fact they are currently one of amateur boxing’s powerhouse countries, and a country that had been regarded as being close to Umar Kremlev and the IBA. Their 10 member team was one of the biggest at the 2024 Olympics, with only Australia (12) and Uzbekistan (11), and although they disappointed at the medal table, winning only 2 medals, they have been a consistent threat to the medal stages at recent Olympics, coming 4th in 2016 and 5th in 2012.
The fact Kazakhstan made this move, and have done so now, could well be the first domino of many that could topple IBA and could secure Boxing at the 2028 Olympics. It is, however, only a domino, and many more will need to fall in place for the IOC to be convinced to keep boxing at LA, and allow the sport to continue to showcase the best of amateur boxing on what is, for many fighters, a once in a lifetime opportunity. A once in a lifetime opportunity that the IBA have come close to robbing from fighters in the future.
The big worry, for many, was that 2024 could end up being the final Olympics to have boxing, at least for the foreseeable future, as the effects of an Umar Kremlev run IBA has gone head to head with the IOC, and their leader Thomas Bach.
Today however there were two major stories that could lead to boxing being kept on at the 2028 games in LA, and surprisingly they both had to do with Kazakhstan, one of the powerhouses of amateur boxing.
The first bit of news was that former Middleweight kingpin Gennadiy Golovkin (42-2-1, 37) [Геннадий Геннадьевич Головкин] had been appointed as the new chairperson World Boxing’s Olympic Commission. A move that sees someone widely respected within the sport, both as an amateur and professional, being given a major role, and being put in a position that showed World Boxing was serious about keeping boxing on the Olympic schedule, and helping completely replace IBA, who had long been the only body in amateur boxing.
World Boxing explained “Golovkin will work closely with World Boxing’s leadership to manage the organisation’s relationship with the IOC and oversee the pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the sport programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Game.” Of course he won’t be doing that alone and World Boxing added “Other members of the commission will be added in the coming weeks to ensure it is diverse and representative of the global boxing community.”
To keep boxing at the Olympics the organisation will need to show that their organisation is financially sustainable and can bring in enough countries to convince the IOC to accept it as the body for boxing. It also needs to avoid the pitfalls of IBA, which had major issues with transparency, including the gender issues that marred the past Olympics, fairness, and honesty, which Golovkin had stated he will be working on alongside the IOC.
Whilst Golovkin’s role at the IOC will get headlines, and understandably so, what was more telling is that Kazakhstan, where Golovkin is from, has now applied to join World Boxing. The news of that application was shared on social media, with Boxing Kazakhstan sharing the following statement
“Kazakhstan Boxing Federation made an important decision as a result of long discussions and expertise.
Kazakhstan has submitted an official application to join the World Boxing organization.
First of all, this decision is directly related to the Olympic future of domestic boxers
Now the issue of staying boxing in the Olympic program is being discussed at the level of the IOC. We are ready to work together with all countries to keep boxing in the program of the Olympic Games.
We believe that this decision will allow further development of boxing.
During the meeting with the chairman of the World Boxing Olympic Commission, the president of the National Olympic Committee, Gennady Golovkin, we discussed ways of development of domestic boxing" - Shahmurat Mutalip.
World Boxing - International Boxing Federation. This organization was established in April 2023. Currently, it includes national federations of 44 countries.”
What makes Kazakhstan’s decision such a key one is the fact they are currently one of amateur boxing’s powerhouse countries, and a country that had been regarded as being close to Umar Kremlev and the IBA. Their 10 member team was one of the biggest at the 2024 Olympics, with only Australia (12) and Uzbekistan (11), and although they disappointed at the medal table, winning only 2 medals, they have been a consistent threat to the medal stages at recent Olympics, coming 4th in 2016 and 5th in 2012.
The fact Kazakhstan made this move, and have done so now, could well be the first domino of many that could topple IBA and could secure Boxing at the 2028 Olympics. It is, however, only a domino, and many more will need to fall in place for the IOC to be convinced to keep boxing at LA, and allow the sport to continue to showcase the best of amateur boxing on what is, for many fighters, a once in a lifetime opportunity. A once in a lifetime opportunity that the IBA have come close to robbing from fighters in the future.