Golovkin set to be named World Boxing president as sole candidate

Former world champion Gennady Golovkin is set to be appointed president of World Boxing after he was named as sole candidate to replace Boris van der Vorst, the organisation said on Friday.

Van der Vorst said in September that he would not seek re-election at the body's third annual Congress this month, citing the relentless demands of leading the breakaway organisation and years of global travel as his reasons for stepping down.

World Boxing said an independent vetting panel reviewed several applications of men and women who had put themselves forward for election last month and only Golovkin made the cut.

"In accordance with World Boxing's current statutes ... Unanimous acclamation from Congress can be accepted if there is only one candidate for any office bearing position," World Boxing said in a statement.

"Gennady Golovkin will become President of World Boxing by acclamation at the Congress on Sunday 23 November 2025 when he will assume the mantle from the incumbent President, Boris van der Vorst."

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 appointed president of Kazakhstan's National Olympic Committee in 2024.

Greece's Mariolis Charilaos, who served as president of the Hellenic Boxing Federation from 2021 to 2025, was the other candidate who had put his name forward for the presidency.

However, World Boxing did not specify why Charilaos did not make the cut. Reuters has contacted World Boxing for comment.

Van der Vorst was the former Dutch federation chief and elected World Boxing's first president on a two-year term after the breakaway body was formed in 2023.

He was tasked with the crucial mission of securing boxing's