Meet Serafim Todorov: the last man to beat Floyd Mayweather in 1996

You have to go back nearly 20 years to find the last man who got the better of Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring.

Mayweather was beaten by Bulgarian Serafim Todorov at the 1996 Summer Olympics, less than six months before embarking on a professional career in which he has yet to experience defeat.

The two boxers could not have taken more contrasting paths since Todorov's 10-9 victory at the Atlanta games, which ended with the Bulgarian winning silver and Mayweather settling for bronze.

Mayweather is now the world's best paid athlete preparing to share the majority of a £198m purse with Manny Pacquiao, while Todorov is wondering what might have been as we speak at his humble Bulgarian council flat in Pazardzhik.

Going back to your fight with Mayweather, what was your secret and how did you win?

I was studying Floyd Mayweather’s matches and I was very calm. And I thought, he can’t really beat me. I knew his style and I knew my style, I knew he couldn’t beat me.

What has your life been like since that fight?

Life went down hill for me after that match. I was surrounded by bad people, but it was not my fault. They did a lot of bad things to me. Put simply, my life became a living hell.

After his impressive performance at the 1996 Olympics, the Bulgarian Boxing Federation had promised to provide Todorov with extra funding, but failed to deliver.

Disillusioned and unable to support his young family, he tried to leave the country and become a Turkish national, after they offered him a more secure future.

But a series complicated negotiations between the two federations ended Todorov's hopes of representing Turkey at the 1997 World Championships.

He was forced to retire after a handful of low key professional fights desperately arranged to scrape some money together, and has suffered with depression ever since.

Currently living off his £285 a month pension, Todorov admits he has regrets about the past.

Do you have any regrets about that fight and what happened on that day?

Just before match with Floyd, during the doping tests, they offered me a contract, they didn’t offer him one. But I couldn’t predict all of the crisis I would face in life. I regret that I didn’t sign the contract and stay in the USA.

When you see Las Vegas and this fight coming up, how do you feel?

I have regrets, because I know what a boxer I was. I was not only a legend, I was gifted, created by god. This ring in Las Vegas, it deserves me. And I deserve to be able to show how boxing should be done.

Who would you prefer to win?

Of course I prefer Floyd to win. Because if Floyd wins, I will stay the only boxer who ever beat him and he has lost only to me.

What does the future hold now?

If Floyd wins tomorrow, we can organise a rematch. We can put on a really good show and this will be his testimonial match.