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Gennady Golovkin Unveils Presidential Program for World Boxing

Gennadiy Golovkin, the former world champion and current head of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee, has officially presented his program as a candidate for the presidency of World Boxing. World Boxing was established in 2023 after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the International Boxing Association (IBA) from organizing Olympic qualifying events, and raised the possibility of removing boxing from the Olympic program entirely. Golovkin, known globally by his ring name GGG, was appointed chairman of the World Boxing Olympic Commission in late 2024. Under his leadership, the new organization secured IOC accreditation to oversee Olympic qualifying events for the 2028 Games. The current president of World Boxing, Dutch official Boris van der Vorst, will conclude his term at the end of November 2025. He has announced he will not seek re-election. On November 23 in Rome, representatives from 125 national boxing federations affiliated with World Boxing will vote to elect a new president, vice president, and board members. Golovkin has been nominated for all three roles. His sole opponent in the presidential race is Mariolis Charilaos of Greece. On Friday, November 7, Golovkin published his official campaign platform. According to the document, available via the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation’s social media channels, Golovkin’s proposals center on athlete representation, governance transparency, and digital innovation. If elected, he plans to establish a World Boxing Athletes’ Council in 2026 with voting rights on the Executive Board, and to protect athletes’ rights through the implementation of an independent judging system. Golovkin also aims to launch a World Boxing Academy for athletes and coaches, covering anti-doping education, mental health awareness, and refereeing standards. The academy would also assist boxers in transitioning to post-athletic careers and offer targeted grant support. A key element of his platform is the use of artificial intelligence. Golovkin proposes AI-assisted refereeing and the creation of a digital platform called Digital Ringside, which would publish real-time bout data, athlete profiles, and explanations of judging decisions, serving as a transparency tool for the media and public. In addition, Golovkin advocates for the annual publication of audited financial reports and the development of sponsorships with international brands aligned with Olympic values to support amateur boxing. “As chairman of the World Boxing Olympic Commission, I worked with partners to expand our membership base. Thanks to those efforts, we achieved provisional recognition and preserved boxing’s place in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program,” Golovkin said. “If you place your trust in me, I will continue working to safeguard boxing’s Olympic future, not only for 2028, but for generations to come and to secure full IOC recognition for World Boxing.” As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, World Boxing held its first amateur world championship in 2025, where Kazakhstan topped the team standings.

Sports

Kazakh Boxing Legend Gennadiy Golovkin Nominated to Lead World Boxing

Gennadiy Golovkin, Kazakhstan’s former middleweight world champion, and current head of the National Olympic Committee, has been nominated for the presidency of World Boxing, the international boxing federation. He is also running concurrently for a vicepresidential post and a seat on the Board of Directors. World Boxing was created in April 2023 as an alternative to the International Boxing Association (IBA) after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended it from hosting Olympic qualifying tournaments citing governance problems, corruption scandals and nontransparent refereeing. At its founding the association included only six countries, United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Philippines but by late 2025 it has grown considerably. In September 2024 Golovkin became Chair of World Boxing’s Olympic Commission, whose key task is to work with the IOC to keep boxing in the Olympic programme and gain official recognition for the new organisation. The next World Boxing leadership elections will take place on 23 November 2025 in Rome as part of the World Boxing Congress. The incumbent president, Dutchman Boris van der Vorst, has announced he will not seek reelection. According to the organisation’s press service, Golovkin has been nominated for three positions simultaneously, president, vicepresident and board member. Election to one position automatically excludes voting for the others. Two other candidates for the presidency have been announced: Mariolis Charilaos of Greece. A number of other candidates are also running for the vicepresidential and board seats. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, in 2025 World Boxing held its first amateur world championship, with Kazakhstan’s team winning the overall team competition.

Sports

Kazakhstan Wins Team Gold at World Boxing Championships in Liverpool

Kazakhstan's national boxing team has clinched the team gold medal at the inaugural World Boxing Championships held in Liverpool, England, edging out Uzbekistan by securing more gold medals. A total of 554 athletes from 68 countries participated in the competition, including 20 boxers from Kazakhstan, 10 male and 10 female. On September 14, eight Kazakhstani and eight Uzbekistani boxers advanced to the finals. Heading into the decisive final bout, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had secured six gold medals each. The tie-breaker unfolded in the super heavyweight category (over 90 kg), where Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay faced Uzbekistan’s Jahongir Zokirov. Zokirov had the upper hand after the first round, but Oralbay mounted a comeback and ultimately won by a 3:2 split decision. With this victory, Kazakhstan topped the overall medal table with seven gold medals. Uzbekistan followed with six, while India claimed third place with two. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated the national team, praising gold medalists Sanzhar Tashkenbay, Mahmud Sabyrkhan, Alua Balkibekova, Aida Abikeeva, Torehan Sabyrkhan, Natalia Bogdanova, and Aibek Oralbay, as well as silver medalist Nazym Kyzaibay and bronze winners Victoria Grafeeva and Eldana Talipova. He wished success to those still competing in Liverpool and emphasized that while Kazakhstan’s performance at the championships was a major success, intensive preparation must continue ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games in the United States. This tournament marked a significant milestone as the first world championship organized by World Boxing, a breakaway international federation established in 2023 in response to ongoing governance and financial issues within the International Boxing Association (IBA). Following the IBA’s failure to implement required reforms, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revoked its accreditation, placing boxing's Olympic status in jeopardy. World Boxing, now recognized by the IOC as of spring 2025, brought together more than 100 national federations and was granted the authority to organize Olympic qualifying events. Liverpool thus became the historic venue for the first world championship under the new structure. Athletes from Brazil (4), India and Poland (3 each), Turkey, Australia, and England (2 each), as well as France, Mongolia, Spain, Japan, Bulgaria, the USA, Taiwan, and Ireland (1 each) also reached the finals. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Olympic champion Lazizbek Mullojanov, who won gold at the 2024 Games, was not included in Uzbekistan’s lineup. Mullojanov was suspended in mid-2025 amid an ongoing anti-doping investigation.

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ESPN’s Laura Sanko Dives into Kazakh Culture, Inspired by UFC’s Shavkat Rakhmonov

American TV host and ESPN journalist Laura Sanko, known for her admiration of Kazakh UFC fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov, has shared her journey of learning the Kazakh language. Sanko acknowledged that the process has been challenging but expressed enthusiasm for mastering new words and phrases. “It’s difficult. You would laugh if you saw me. I sit in my hotel room, watch YouTube videos, and try to repeat after them. When I think I’ve succeeded, I send an audio file to Sayat Abdrakhmanov, Shavkat Rakhmonov's manager, asking him to check. Then he translates my phrases into Kazakh, and I listen to them slowly, over and over,” she revealed during an interview with Schrödinger's Sport. Despite her dedication, Sanko modestly assessed her progress, emphasizing the significant effort required to learn Kazakh. “I learned that ‘sәlemetsiz be’ means ‘hello.’ I picked that up through YouTube. I wanted to prepare for a simple conversation, but I’m far from that. Kazakh is very difficult for Americans. It requires using deep throat muscles, while English relies on more frontal sounds. It’s hard for us to get it right,” she explained. Sanko has long been a familiar name among martial arts fans in Kazakhstan. She began following Rakhmonov’s career even before his debut in the UFC. Her admiration for the fighter has occasionally sparked rumors of romantic interest, but Sanko maintains that her fascination is purely professional. Sanko’s admiration for Rakhmonov extends beyond his fighting skills to Kazakhstan's culture. She has made public appearances in traditional Kazakh attire, such as during a UFC weigh-in. Ahead of Rakhmonov’s most recent fight, she appeared in a traditional Kazakh outfit and, after his seventh consecutive UFC victory, delivered a speech in Kazakh - a gesture widely appreciated by Kazakhstani fans. Shavkat Rakhmonov is one of Kazakhstan's most celebrated MMA athletes. Currently ranked No. 2 in the welterweight division, Rakhmonov remains undefeated with a 19-0 record.

Sports

A Guy From the Bronx and His Contribution to Uzbekistan’s Boxing Gold

Uzbekistan’s five gold medals in boxing at the Paris games owe something to Sidney Jackson, an accomplished boxer from a poor Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City, who is credited with introducing the sport to Central Asia in the early 1920s. That’s the view of Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the United States, Furqat Sidiqov, and other people in Uzbekistan who know about the country’s evolution as an Olympic boxing power. “This remarkable success is tied to Sidney Jackson, founder of Uzbekistan’s boxing school,” Sidiqov said on the X platform. He said Jackson’s legacy is still shaping champions today and urged people to watch a documentary about the American that was released in 2022 with the backing of the Uzbek government. Jackson, a beloved figure in Uzbekistan who died in Tashkent in 1966, started boxing when he was a boy, won featherweight titles in the United States and joined a boxing tour in Europe just before World War I. He dropped out of the tour because of an injury, traveled to Russia and then diverted to Tashkent when fighting erupted in Europe. Short of money, he stayed there, found a job, joined an international brigade that fought in the civil conflict sweeping Central Asia and the Caucasus after the Russian Revolution, and opened a threadbare boxing club in Tashkent after the war ended. [caption id="attachment_21805" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Sketch of Sidney Jackson by Rifkat Azihanov[/caption] Over the years, he trained Russian and Central Asian boxers who had international success as representatives of the Soviet Union. Jackson laid foundations for athletes including Russian middleweight boxer Valeri Popenchenko, who won gold at the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, and Rufat Riskiyev, an Uzbek middleweight boxer who won silver at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Uzbekistan’s boxing federation was founded in 1928, and Jackson served as its chairman for more than 20 years. The history of boxing in Uzbekistan is “inextricably linked” with Jackson, according to Uzbek boxing officials. “To call Sidney Jackson the grandfather of boxing in Uzbekistan is accurate, but still undersells his impact on the sport,” the asianboxing.info website said in 2020. “And whilst it may have been more than 50 years since he died, his impact is still felt there, and always will be for any Uzbek stepping between the ropes.”