FLOYD MAYWEATHER was reduced to tears after losing in the 1996 Olympics – which was the final time he ever tasted defeat.
The future boxing legend had breezed into the semi-finals of the featherweight category in Atlanta.
Mayweather was then matched up against Bulgarian Serafiv Todorov, who he appeared to comfortably outbox over the three rounds.
So much so that the referee even raised his hand as the result was read out, only for everyone to be stunned as it went the other way.
The arena then broke out into boos as Mayweather, only 19 at the time, failed to put the loss into words in the post-fight interview.
He said: “I felt I won the fight.”
The American was then asked whether he thought three-time champion Todorov was given preferential treatment.
It is at that point Mayweather’s emotions got the better of him as he broke out into tears.
The devastated prodigy – who gifted his grandmother his bronze medal – turned pro only two months after his Olympic heartbreak.
Mayweather used the crushing loss as motivation to never be beaten again, once describing it as “one of the best things that ever happened to me”.
And it proved pivotal in the pay-per-view king retiring 50-0, as a five-weight world champion and richest fighter of all time.
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But it was an entirely different story for his controversial conquerer Todorov.
According to the New York Post, who detailed the eventual silver medalist’s career after the Atlanta Games, Todorov went on to live a modest life.
He shared a first-floor flat in Bulgaria with his wife, son and daughter-in-law.
His jobs have varied from working as a driver, in a supermarket and in a sausage factory, but later lived off £315 a month thanks to his pension.
Mayweather wanted to see his former opponent take to coaching and was left with no hard feelings after his unjust defeat.
He told ex-NFL star-turned sports pundit Shannon Sharpe in 2020: “I wish him nothing but the best.
“I don’t know why he didn’t become a boxing trainer because at the time when we fought, he was already a lot older than I was.
“I was fighting at the elite stage at 16. I wanted to turn pro at 14, but it never happened.
“Five years later, I turned pro at 19. Within a year, I was a champion.”
