Nine months have passed since Thomas Bach recognised World Boxing as the federation responsible for organising the Olympic event from that moment on. More than half a year to consolidate transparency, clarify accounts, eliminate lingering doubts and project credibility over the sport’s political ring. Far from that, the presidential elections held this past weekend in Rome have raised more questions and shadows than certainties or real change.

The mere fact of how Gennadiy Golovkin was elected president of World Boxing reflects the organisation’s current state. According to the official statement, Golovkin was appointed “by acclamation” given that he was the only candidate approved by the evaluation panel. That alone already raises a tension that is hard to ignore: can it really be called an “election” if there was no real opposition? And, furthermore, how does this differ from the election of Umar Kremlev in the International Boxing Association (IBA) as the only candidate — a situation that greatly angered the IOC?

What message does this send both to national federations and to the International Olympic Committee? The fact that only a limited number of national federations had the right to vote, or that their access was conditioned, is another factor that undermines the credibility of the process… It has not been the best way to begin this new phase.

Restricted participation and compromised transparency

The available information suggests that only certain federations were deemed eligible to vote, while the others were left out or relegated to observer status. Why? Is this the new transparency? This situation contrasts with previous expectations, which pointed to broader participation by national federations. An organisation with global ambitions must ensure genuine representation: if only around 55 federations have a voice out of more than a hundred expected members, a gap emerges between formal membership and actual participation. The result appears more like a designation than a shared choice.

Another weakness in the process lies in the control of candidates’ eligibility. As reported by SportsIn, the Greek candidate Charilaos Mariolis, who had initially been approved, was ultimately excluded due to his record in Greece. How did the supposedly independent evaluation panel of World Boxing not detect this earlier?

When an organisation claims to have an “independent evaluation panel,” yet its outcome is the selection of a single candidate, the standards of transparency, plurality and fairness inevitably come into question. Much of the responsibility for the fiasco surrounding the candidate selection process lies with those who were supposed to complete it. The Secretary General and the CEO proved not to be up to the task, something that should lead the new president to reflect on how to move forward and with whom. If you want to run a horse race, you need thoroughbred horses, not apprentices.

A credibility challenge on the road to LA28

World Boxing was created out of urgency: the expulsion of the IBA from the Olympic movement due to serious governance failures. Now, just a few years before the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the new organisation must prove that it has learned the lesson. However, there is still much to be done for that to happen.

The Olympic sports system demands institutions that are strong, clean, accountable, inclusive of all voices and committed to open procedures. When the sport’s governing body begins with an election format that weakens those parameters, it risks repeating the same patterns that dragged its predecessor into the abyss.

Urgent reforms to avoid repeating mistakes

If World Boxing aspires to lead world boxing with credibility, it must urgently address the following areas:

• Expanded participation: allow all affiliated federations to have a voice and vote on equal terms, so legitimacy is not merely formal.
• Transparent election processes: clearly publish eligibility criteria, the names of candidates before the vote, and detailed scrutiny results.
• Independent external oversight: bring in auditors or supervisory bodies to validate the process and certify its integrity.
• Pluralist governance: ensure that leadership positions represent different continents, genders and profiles, truly reflecting the global nature of the sport.
• Clear communication with the Olympic movement: demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee that the organisation is committed to the Olympic values of transparency, fairness and good governance.

If these reforms are not carried out soon, the risk is that World Boxing will be seen as a superficial change, with new names (though not all) but old habits. And the IOC will not allow the same mistake to happen twice.