Svilen Aldinov Rusinov (; born February 29, 1964, in
Teteven
Teteven (, ) is a town on the banks of the Vit, at the foot of the Balkan mountains in north central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Teteven Municipality which is a part of Lovech Province. As of December 2010, the town had a po ...
) is a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
*Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
* Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
, who twice competed at the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
for his native country. As an amateur he won a
bronze medal
A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...
in the super
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
division (+ 91 kg) at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He also won the European Championship in 1993 and was twice runner up in the World Amateur Championships.
During his extensive amateur career Rusinov consistently competed at the highest level and boxed a number of amateur and future professional boxing greats. He holds wins over
Vitali Klitschko
Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,Felix Savon, as well as a close loss to
Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in , . (born 25 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships betwe ...
. In an interview he stated that his toughest opponent was
Roberto Balado
Roberto Balado Méndez (15 February 1969 – 2 July 1994) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1986 to 1994. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a Gold medal in the men's super heavyweight (+91 kg).
A natural heavyweight, he w ...
, the 1992 Olympic champion from Cu
Olympic results
1988
*1st round bye
*Lost to
Andrew Golota
Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as a ...
Rusinov turned pro in 1999 and fought only one fight, which he won, before retiring. He has stated that in the post-communist years he did not have the opportunity to turn professional. He briefly became a boxing coach at the CSKA club, working amongst others with future professional world title challenger
Kubrat Pulev
Kubrat Venkov Pulev (; born 4 May 1981) is a Bulgarian professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title ( Regular version) since 2024. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, includ ...
.
Rusinov subsequently became a farmer and mayor of his native village of Gradezhnitsa.