Good ideas usually come by accident. The story of Bulgarian boxer Blagoy Naydenov started like a children’s game. Once, when he was 12 years old, Blagoy came out of the bathroom and told his father: “Dad, Look! I am Mike Tyson. Later his father took him to the boxing club, where Blagoy made his first steps in boxing. This was followed by several years of heard training, accompanied with lots of sports talent and the support of his personal coach Asparuh Georgiev and the Bulgarian Boxing Federation.

Blagoy Naydenov who was born on July 9, 1996 in Sofia met the expectations of the boxing experts at the Youth World Boxing Championships held in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. He defended his title from the European Junior Boxing Championships held in 2012 in Sofia, thus lifting the bar even higher. Blagoy Naydenov won the gold medal at the 81 kilogram category after a difficult match with the Asian boxing champion Vadim Kazakov from Kazakhstan. Four months later the talented Bulgarian alumnus of Slavia sports club, which is one of the oldest and best boxing schools in Bulgaria, proved his high class and returned with a gold medal from 2014 Youth Olympics held in Nanjing, China. Naydenov was awarded for his latest success with the Golden Bulgaria award for best Bulgarian athlete in August organized by Pressclub Bulgaria. The winner is selected after a survey among the top Bulgarian journalists.

What did Blagoy Naydenov think about during his last match in Nanjing Youth Olympics, which brought him the Olympic title? More from Mr Naydenov himself:

“I believed that I would become an Olympic champion. I had this feeling inside of me after I won the world boxing title. I had no doubts about it. I simply knew I would be the next Olympic champion”.

Blagoy’s psychological adjustment and confidence is not surprising: “Psychological endurance is very important in boxing. You must always step on the boxing ring with the adjustment to score a victory. Things never happen the right way if you have even the slightest doubts”, Bulgaria’s champion explains.

Blagoy Naydenov will miss the forthcoming European Youth Boxing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, because he needs a break. What are the future plans of the young Bulgarian boxer?

“I do things step by step”, Blagoy says. “Now I will have some rest. I start to look forward when the competitions get closer. I always want the maximum and aim at the gold medals only. I am not happy with other silverware”.

Blagoy says it is too early to think about the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio. It will be on his agenda after the Olympic qualifiers. Next year Blagoy will aim at winning the most prestigious boxing trophy in Bulgaria- Strandja cup. In his view, all sport successes walk hand in hand with lots of hard work and privations. “We practiced during the whole year. In January we went to Belmeken sports complex in Rila Mountain. It has been a very difficult year”, the talented Bulgarian boxer comments.

Does Blagoy who is to turn 18 this year has the feeling that he misses many things in life due to his time devoted to boxing?

“I have time for everything. Sometimes when we practice in training camps we want to go out, but we are unable to do so. However, it does not bother us a lot, because we feel much better with the victories we score after these training camps.”

We asked Bulgaria’s new boxing talent what he expected from the forthcoming match for the World Heavyweight Title between Kubrat Pulev-Kobrata and Ukrainian top boxer Wladimir Klitschko on November 15.

“I believe Kubrat will win. We are Bulgarians and will support him until the end”, Blagoy Naydenov finally said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria

English version: Kostadin Atanasov