Bulgarian Boxing Federation

All in 1894 in 1893, the Bulgarian Ministry of Education brought twelve Swiss gymnastics teachers to the country, who introduced gymnastics and French boxing into the curriculum. After the First World War, officers of the occupying forces brought the first boxing gloves, and English soldiers held exhibition matches in Sofia. Hundreds of young Bulgarians then began learning the noble art of self-defense.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Bulgaria developed into an influential boxing nation. Boxer Boris Georgiev became the first Bulgarian athlete to win an Olympic medal in Helsinki in 1952, taking bronze in the up-to-75 kg category. In Munich in 1972, Georgi Kostadinov became the first Bulgarian Olympic boxing champion.

Bulgaria took part in the first World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana in 1974 and has been a regular participant and medal winner ever since. In Munich in 1982, Ismail Mustafov became the first Bulgarian world champion; Serafim Todorov holds the record with three world titles. The country hosted the European Championships twice, in Varna in 1983 and in Plovdiv in 2006.

One of the great names is Emil Zjetsjev, who served for many years as chairman of the referees' commission of the International Amateur Boxing Association AIBA and as long-standing president of the European Boxing Federation EABA. He was the first recipient of the AIBA Order of Merit.

The federation assembles the national teams, publishes its own competition calendar alongside those of European Boxing and the international federation, and manages the training, appointment, and examination of referees through the NSK.

Sofia has hosted the Strandzha Tournamentfor more than six decades, making it one of the oldest and most prestigious boxing tournaments in the world. The federation has also organized Balkan Championships, European youth tournaments, and in 2026 the European Championships for men and women at the Asics Arena in Sofia.

Bulgaria is registered as a full member of both World Boxing and European Boxing with Krasimir Ininski as president. At the national level, the federation works with the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The country has around one hundred youth boxing clubs, more than fifty of which are based in Sofia. The strongest clubs come from the capital: CSKA, Slavia, Levski and Lokomotiv.

Bulgarian boxers won a total of 293 medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships: 61 gold, 90 silver and 142 bronze. At the Games, these were four gold, five silver and eight bronze medals.

Olympic champions were Georgi Kostadinov in Munich 1972, Petar Lesov in Moscow 1980, Ivajlo Marinov in Seoul 1988, Daniel Petrov in Atlanta 1996 and Stojka Krasteva in Tokyo 2020, also a two-time European champion in Bucharest 2014 and Sofia 2018.

Sofia, with approximately 1.2 million inhabitants at the foot of Vitosha, is regarded as the country's boxing capital. The federation summarizes its social role with the idea that boxing is an outstretched hand to young people and gives them a good chance to succeed in life.