FILE PHOTO: WBC/WBA/IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan sits behind his belts during a news conference at MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/File Photo
(Reuters) -Former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was confirmed as the new president of World Boxing on Sunday at the governing body's annual Congress in Rome.
Kazakh Golovkin, once considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and the winner of a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, was elected as the sole candidate.
He replaced former president Boris van der Vorst, who had said in September that he would not seek re-election.
"It is a privilege to be elected... but this is just the beginning," Golovkin said in a statement shared by World Boxing. "On the road to (Los Angeles 2028), we will restore trust in Olympic boxing to secure our place in Brisbane and beyond."
World Boxing will oversee the boxing competitions at the 2028 Olympics after the body was provisionally recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in February.
It replaced the International Boxing Association (IBA), which was expelled by the IOC in June 2023.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
