Serafim Simeonov Todorov ( bg, Серафим Симеонов Тодоров; born 6 July 1969) is a former Bulgarian

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

. He won three consecutive gold medals at both the

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, 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; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

, albeit via a highly controversial decision, who later went on to become one of the all-time greats in

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

Amateur career

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

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. 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 is derived from Ba ...

, 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, this ...

. He won a silver medal at bantamweight in 1989, losing to Cuban

Enrique Carrion Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ( ...

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 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

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 Ri Gwang-sik (born March 5, 1970) is a North Korean boxer who won a bronze medal in the men's bantamweight (54 kg) category at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He also captured a bronze medal at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Champion ...

. 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 Somluck Kamsing (name used in the 1996 Summer Olympics) or Somrak Kamsing ( th, สมรักษ์ คำสิงห์; ; born January 16, 1973) is a Thai kickboxer and Olympic gold medal-winning amateur boxer. During the 1998 Asian Games in ...

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 John Sem is a Papua New Guinean Olympic boxer. He represented his country in the bantamweight division at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He lost his first bout against Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariy ...

(Papua New Guinea) 11–0 *Defeated

Joseph Chongo Joseph Chongo (born 25 January 1965) is a Zambian boxer. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta ...

(Zambia) 18–6 *Lost to

(North Korea) 15–16 1996 (at featherweight) *Defeated

Yevheniy Shestakov Yevheniy Shestakov ( uk, Євген Шестаков; born 17 September 1976) is a retired male boxer from Ukraine. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was stopped in the first round of the ...

(Ukraine) 11–4 *Defeated

Robbie Peden Robert Lloyd Peden (born 11 November 1973) is an Australian former professional boxer who won the vacant IBF super featherweight title in 2005 by beating Nate Campbell by TKO. Peden was the third person of Aboriginal descent to win a world t ...

(Australia) 20–8 *Defeated

Falk Huste Falk Huste (born November 6, 1971 in Greiz, Thüringen) is a boxer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg) division at the 2000 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Tampere, Finland. He is the ...

(Germany) 14–6 *Defeated

(United States) 10–9 *Lost to

(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 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 ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in t ...

. 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 2022. 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 of Bulgaria Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in boxing People from Peshtera Bulgarian male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Bantamweight boxers