Floyd Mayweather is about to step into the ring for likely the biggest fight in boxing history with an undefeated professional record and enough riches to last generations. It is very possible that instead of Floyd being in the limelight at this moment, it could have been Serafim Todorov, the Bulgarian boxer who beat Floyd back in the 1996 Olympics. Things happened after the fight however that Todorov still regrets to this day.
@IamJoeSports
Do you know anyone who can ever say they beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match? The answer is no you don’t, but one man can lay claim to being the last person to get the WIN over Floyd, but the lives of the two boxers have gone in totally different directions since that night.
Todorov doesn’t regret it because of all the controversy that surrounded it, though. After the match, which Todorov won by a 10-9 decision, Mayweather and the U.S. team filed a formal protest, claiming that Bulgarian judge Emil Jetchev—the Olympics’ head of boxing officials at the time—had played a big role in Todorov’s win. Rather, Todorov tells the New York Times that he regrets it because of what happened after the match.
According to him, he was approached by several high-profile boxing promoters after his match with Mayweather ended and offered a professional contract. But he didn’t sign it. So he says the men approached Mayweather instead and offered him a contract. He doesn’t know whether or not Mayweather signed it. But he does know that, almost 20 years later, Mayweather is now the biggest boxer in the world. And Todorov—who lost in the Olympic final and believes Jetchev conspired against him—never got an opportunity to put together a legitimate pro career. So while Mayweather is making millions today, Todorov is living on a pension that pays him just $435 per month.
While it is impossible to say for sure that Todorov would have became a star to the same extent Floyd did because a lot of that has to do with Floyd’s charisma and his marketability, but to only make $435 a month knowing what could have been has to hurt. Check out the fight below.
