Serafim Todorov

Bulgarian boxer

Serafim Todorov
Серафим Тодоров

Todorov in 2015

Personal information
Full name| Serafim Simeonov Todorov
Nickname| Sarafa ("The Money-changer")
Nationality| Bulgarian
Born|  (1969-07-06) 6 July 1969 (age 54)
Peshtera, Pazardzhik, Republic of Bulgaria
Height| 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
Sport| Boxing
Weight class|

* Bantamweight
* Featherweight

Club| Slavia Club

Medal record

Representing  Bulgaria
Olympic Games
|  1996 Atlanta | Featherweight
World Championships
|  1991 Sydney | Bantamweight
|  1993 Tampere | Featherweight
|  1995 Berlin | Featherweight
|  1989 Moscow | Bantamweight
European Championships
|  1989 Athens | Bantamweight
|  1991 Gothenburg | Bantamweight
|  1993 Bursa | Featherweight
|  1996 Vejle | Featherweight

Serafim Simeonov Todorov (Bulgarian: Серафим Симеонов Тодоров; born 6 July 1969) is a former Bulgarian Olympic amateur boxer. He won three consecutive gold medals at both the World and European Championships, and silver at the 1996 Olympics. He is the last boxer to defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr. via decision.[1]

## Amateur career[edit]

As an amateur, Todorov won the world championships three times, in 1991 at bantamweight, and in 1993 and 1995 at featherweight. 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 and 1996 Olympic Games. In 1992 he lost in the quarter-finals to North Korean Li Gwang-Sik.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics, 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.[1]

### Olympic results[edit]

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 Floyd Mayweather Jr. (United States) 10–9
* Lost to Somluck Kamsing (Thailand) 5–8

## Later life[edit]

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.[1][2]

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.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Sam Borden (April 3, 2015). "The Last Man to Beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. Still Regrets It". New York Times.
2. ^ Sweetman, Tom; Thomas, Alex (April 27, 2015). "Tragic tale of the last man to beat Floyd Mayweather". CNN. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
3. ^ "July-August 2018". Film Comment.

## External links[edit]

* Boxing record for Serafim Todorov from BoxRec (registration required)
* Serafim Todorov at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

* v
* t
* e

World amateur boxing champions – men's bantamweight

* 1974–2009: up to 54 kg
* 2011–2017: up to 56 kg
* 2021–present: up to 54 kg

* 1974:  Wilfredo Gómez (PUR)
* 1978:  Adolfo Horta (CUB)
* 1982:  Floyd Favors (USA)
* 1986:  Sung-Kil Moon (KOR)
* 1989:  Enrique Carrión (CUB)
* 1991:  Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1993:  Waldemar Font (CUB)
* 1995:  Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
* 1997:  Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
* 1999:  George Olteanu (ROU)
* 2001:  Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
* 2003:  Aghasi Mammadov (AZE)
* 2005:  Guillermo Rigondeaux (CUB)
* 2007:  Sergey Vodopyanov (RUS)
* 2009:  Detelin Dalakliev (BUL)
* 2011:  Lázaro Álvarez (CUB)
* 2013:  Javid Chalabiyev (AZE)
* 2015:  Michael Conlan (IRL)
* 2017:  Kairat Yeraliyev (KAZ)
* 2021:  Tomoya Tsuboi (JPN)
* 2023:  Makhmud Sabyrkhan (KAZ)

* v
* t
* e

World amateur boxing champions – men's featherweight

1974–2009, 2019–present: up to 57 kg

* 1974:  Howard Davis (USA)
* 1978:  Ángel Herrera (CUB)
* 1982:  Adolfo Horta (CUB)
* 1986:  Kelcie Banks (USA)
* 1989:  Ayrat Khamatov (URS)
* 1991:  Kirkor Kirkorov (BUL)
* 1993:  Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1995:  Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1997:  István Kovács (HUN)
* 1999:  Ricardo Juarez (USA)
* 2001:  Ramaz Paliani (TUR)
* 2003:  Galib Jafarov (KAZ)
* 2005:  Aleksei Tishchenko (RUS)
* 2007:  Albert Selimov (RUS)
* 2009:  Vasiliy Lomachenko (UKR)
* 2019:  Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (UZB)
* 2021:  Jahmal Harvey (USA)
* 2023:  Abdumalik Khalokov (UZB)

* v
* t
* e

European amateur boxing champions – men's bantamweight

1924 – 2010: up to 54 kg

* 1924: Jean Ces (FRA)
* 1925: Archie Rule (ENG)
* 1927: Kurt Dalchow (GER)
* 1928: Vittorio Tamagnini (ITA)
* 1930: János Széles (HUN)
* 1932: Hans Ziglarski (GER)
* 1934: István Enekes (HUN)
* 1937: Ulderico Sergo (ITA)
* 1939: Ulderico Sergo (ITA)
* ~~1942:Arturo Paoletti (ITA)~~
* 1947: László Bogacs (HUN)
* 1949: Giovanni Zuddas (ITA)
* 1951: Vincenzo dall'Osso (ITA)
* 1953: Zenon Stefaniuk (POL)
* 1955: Zenon Stefaniuk (POL)
* 1957: Oleg Grigoryev (URS)
* 1959: Horst Rascher (FRG)
* 1961: Sergey Sivko (URS)
* 1963: Oleg Grigoryev (URS)
* 1965: Oleg Grigoryev (URS)
* 1967: Nicolae Gîju (ROM)
* 1969: Aurel Dumitrescu (ROM)
* 1971: Tibor Badari (HUN)
* 1973: Aldo Cosentino (FRA)
* 1975: Viktor Rybakov (URS)
* 1977: Stefan Förster (GDR)
* 1979: Nikolay Chrapzov (URS)
* 1981: Viktor Miroshnichenko (URS)
* 1983: Yuri Alexandrov (URS)
* 1985: Ljubiša Simić (YUG)
* 1987: Aleksandar Khristov (BUL)
* 1989: Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1991: Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1993: Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
* 1996: István Kovács (HUN)
* 1998: Serhiy Danylchenko (UKR)
* 2000: Agasi Agaguloglu (TUR)
* 2002: Khavazhi Khatsigov (BLR)
* 2004: Gennady Kovalev (RUS)
* 2006: Ali Aliyev (RUS)
* 2008: Luke Campbell (ENG)
* 2010: Eduard Abzalimov (RUS)
* 2011: Veaceslav Gojan (MDA)
* 2013: John Joe Nevin (IRL)
* 2015: Michael Conlan (IRL)
* 2017: Peter McGrail (ENG)
* 2019: Kurt Walker (IRL)

* v
* t
* e

European amateur boxing champions – men's featherweight

1951 – 2010: up to 57 kg

* 1951: Joseph Ventaja (FRA)
* 1953: Josef Kruza (POL)
* 1955: Thomas Nicholls (ENG)
* 1957: Dimitar Velinov (BUL)
* 1959: Jerzy Adamski (POL)
* 1961: Francis Taylor (ENG)
* 1963: Stanislav Stepashkin (URS)
* 1965: Stanislav Stepashkin (URS)
* 1967: Ryszard Petek (POL)
* 1969: László Orban (HUN)
* 1971: Ryszard Tomczyk (POL)
* 1973: Stefan Förster (GDR)
* 1975: Tibor Badari (HUN)
* 1977: Richard Nowakowski (GDR)
* 1979: Viktor Rybakov (URS)
* 1981: Richard Nowakowski (GDR)
* 1983: Serik Nurkassov (URS)
* 1985: Samson Khachatryan (URS)
* 1987: Mekhak Ghazaryan (URS)
* 1989: Kirkor Kirkorov (BUL)
* 1991: Paul Griffin (IRL)
* 1993: Serafim Todorov (BUL)
* 1996: Ramaz Paliani (RUS)
* 1998: Ramaz Paliani (TUR)
* 2000: Ramaz Paliani (TUR)
* 2002: Raimkul Malakhbekov (RUS)
* 2004: Vitali Tajbert (GER)
* 2006: Albert Selimov (RUS)
* 2008: Vasyl Lomachenko (UKR)
* 2010: Denis Makarov (GER)

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* e

Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year

* 1958: Voynova
* 1959: Ahmedov
* 1960: Dobrev
* 1961: Khlebarov
* 1962: Valchev
* 1963: Gardzhev
* 1964: Radev
* 1965: Asparuhov
* 1966: Gardzhev
* 1967: Radev
* 1968: Radev
* 1969: Zhelev
* 1970: Kirov
* 1971: Kirov
* 1972: Bikov
* 1973: Kolev
* 1974: Tomova
* 1975: Khristov
* 1976: Khristova
* 1977: Petrova
* 1978: Yordanova and Otsetova
* 1979: Tomov
* 1980: Lyubenov
* 1981: Rusev
* 1982: Blagoev
* 1983: Etropolski
* 1984: Andonova
* 1985: Kostadinova
* 1986: Donkova and Zlatev
* 1987: Kostadinova and Markov
* 1988: Dangalakova and Markov
* 1989: Letcheva and Yordanov
* 1990: Botev
* 1991: Todorov
* 1992: Bukhalov
* 1993: Todorov
* 1994: Stoichkov
* 1995: Kostadinova
* 1996: Kostadinova
* 1997: Yotov
* 1998: Dafovska
* 1999: Boevski
* 2000: Marinova
* 2001: Yovchev
* 2002: Neykova
* 2003: Yovchev
* 2004: Grozdeva
* 2005: Topalov
* 2006: Denkova and Staviski
* 2007: Zlateva
* 2008: Neykova
* 2009: Dalakliev
* 2010: Zlateva
* 2011: Zlateva
* 2012: Pulev
* 2013: Angelov
* 2014: Dimitrov
* 2015: Petrova
* 2016: Demireva
* 2017: Dimitrov
* 2018: Yusein
* 2019: Iliev
* 2020: Pironkova
* 2021: Goranova
* 2022: Vezenkov

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[PUR]: Puerto Rico
*[CUB]: Cuba
*[USA]: United States
*[KOR]: South Korea
*[BUL]: Bulgaria
*[RUS]: Russia
*[ROU]: Romania
*[AZE]: Azerbaijan
*[IRL]: Ireland
*[KAZ]: Kazakhstan
*[JPN]: Japan
*[URS]: Soviet Union
*[HUN]: Hungary
*[TUR]: Turkey
*[UKR]: Ukraine
*[UZB]: Uzbekistan