Marinov is an Olympic champion from the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988, a bronze medalist from Moscow in 1980 and the first world champion in boxing for amateurs from Bulgaria, as he is also the winner of the title in the championship in Munich in 1892. Marinov is also the winner of 4 gold medals from the European Championship (Tampere in 1981, Varna in 1983, Athens in 1989 and Gothenburg in 1991). In 1981 he won the World Cup in Montreal, BGNES agency reported.

In 2001, Marinov was declared the best Bulgarian boxer in the 20th century by the Bulgarian Boxing Federation.

Ivaylo Marinov was born on July 13, 1960 in Varna under the name Ismail Mustafov. He received his new name during the so-called "Revival Process" when the Communist regime in Bulgaria started a forcible change of the names of Bulgarian Turks.