Boxing legend Gennadiy Golovkin has been named as the president of World Boxing, the body founded to rescue the Olympic sport.
Golovkin, a former Olympic silver medallist, two-time middleweight world champion and once one of the most feared fighters in the professional sport, had his new role confirmed at World Boxing's congress in Rome.
The Kazakh star has quickly become a senior figure in sports administration. In 2024 Golovkin became president of Kazakhstan's National Olympic Committee.
At the World Boxing congress Golovkin proved to be the only candidate for president on the final ballot paper and was named by acclamation.
Others had put themselves forward in October to contest the election, however Golovkin was the only person approved to stand by an independent vetting panel, which assessed the backgrounds of all the candidates.
Golovkin will serve an initial three-year term and succeeds Boris van der Vorst, who did not seek re-election following the completion of his term.
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."
Boxing was on the verge of being completely excluded from the Olympic Games after the IOC (the International Olympic Committee) expelled IBA, the amateur sport's previous governing body, due to longstanding concerns over governance, officiating and allegations of corruption.
World Boxing, which was only set up in April 2023, was founded expressly to save the Olympic sport.
It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the international federation within the Olympic movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.
That rescued a place for the sport at the LA Games in 2028, an essential moment for boxing. Golovkin has played a key role in championing World Boxing and will be even more prominent in the campaign to keep boxing in the Olympics as the federation's president.
World Boxing vice president and chair of the 2025 congress, 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 organisation 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 board 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."
