Serafim Simeonov Todorov (; born 6 July 1969) is a former Bulgarian Olympic boxer. He won three consecutive gold medals at both the

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

and

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, and silver at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He is the last boxer to defeat

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...

, via a controversial decision at the 1996 Games.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Todorov won the world championships three times, in 1991 at

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

, and in 1993 and 1995 at

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

. He won a silver medal at bantamweight in 1989, losing to Cuban Enrique Carrion in the final. He also won the European amateur championships in 1989 and 1991 at bantamweight, and in 1993 at featherweight. Todorov represented Bulgaria at the 1988,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In 1992, he lost in the quarter-finals to North Korean Li Gwang-Sik. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Todorov qualified to the semi-finals where he met the then 19-year-old American, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Todorov won by a 10–9 margin, although many observers felt that Mayweather won the fight. The referee initially raised Mayweather's hand at the end of the fight. Todorov went on to the final where he lost to Somluck Kamsing from Thailand and settled for the silver medal. The majority of people believe Emil Jetchev, the Bulgarian chairman of the international referees' and judges' commission, had orchestrated Todorov's victory. Jetchev was forced to retire following the fight due to the allegations and involvement of foul play. Todorov does not deny the possibility, but says that Jetchev also orchestrated his unfair loss to Kamsing in the final.

Olympic results

1992 (at bantamweight) *Defeated John Sem (Papua New Guinea) 11–0 *Defeated Joseph Chongo (Zambia) 18–6 *Lost to Li Gwang-Sik (North Korea) 15–16 1996 (at featherweight) *Defeated Yevheniy Shestakov (Ukraine) 11–4 *Defeated Robbie Peden (Australia) 20–8 *Defeated Falk Huste (Germany) 14–6 *Defeated

(United States) 10–9 *Lost to Somluck Kamsing (Thailand) 5–8

Later life

Soon after his victory over Mayweather, Todorov rejected a lucrative offer from a group of American boxing promoters. He believed that if he had won the gold medal match in 1996, the Bulgarian Boxing Federation would provide more financially than the proposed contract would have. However, he received little support and decided to switch nationalities and represent Turkey at the

1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary from October 18 to October 26. The ninth edition of this competition, a year after the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was organised by the world governing body ...

. The Bulgarian Boxing Federation barred this move, and Todorov refused to represent his native country, ending his amateur boxing career by 2003. As of 2015, Todorov lives in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

. As of 2015, ''Serafim'', a feature-length documentary film about Todorov's life has been in production. The film, directed by Robert Kolodny, is slated to be released in 2025. The nonfiction piece covers his early years, controversy at the Olympics and what his life has become since then.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Todorov, Serafim 1969 births Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Turkish male boxers Bulgarian people of Turkish descent Bulgarian people of Romani descent Living people Olympic boxers for Bulgaria Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in boxing People from Peshtera Sportspeople from Pazardzhik Province Bulgarian male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Bantamweight boxers 20th-century Turkish sportsmen 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen