There are places where you compete, and there are places where every step into the ring means something more.
For me, Sozopol will always be the second kind.
It is my hometown, the place where I grew up, where the sea became part of who I am and where some of the most important moments of my career have taken place. In my recent interview with bTV Sport, we spoke about that connection, the journey that has brought me this far and the ambitions that continue to push me forward.
Originally published by bTV Sport: btvsport.bg
I am undefeated in 12 professional fights. I hold a WBC title. I have reached the upper levels of the organisation's world rankings.
But none of those achievements have made me feel that the work is finished.
If anything, they have made the next target even clearer.
The night that changed everything
9 August 2025 will always have a special place in my career.
Standing in front of my home crowd in Sozopol, I defeated Rodrigo Damian Coria and won the WBC CISBB super-welterweight title.
It was the result of years of preparation, setbacks, sacrifice and countless hours in the gym. It was also proof that the decisions my team and I had made were taking us in the right direction.
Two years earlier, I had joined Revolution Boxing Promotion. From the beginning, the plan was ambitious: international fights, stronger opponents, a place in the world rankings and eventually a championship belt.
Step by step, that plan started becoming reality.
I broke into the WBC Top 100 and later climbed as high as No. 25 in the super-welterweight rankings. More importantly, I became a WBC titleholder and put myself in a position where the conversations are no longer simply about winning fights.
They are about how far we can go.
The people in my corner
Boxing may look like an individual sport when the bell rings, but no fighter reaches this level alone.
A huge part of my progress has come through my work with my coach, Krum Petrov.
We have built a relationship based on trust, discipline and a shared understanding of what it takes to improve. Since we began working together, the results have spoken for themselves.
The preparation does not stop when we leave the boxing gym either.
Living and training by the sea gives me opportunities that are difficult to reproduce anywhere else. Running on the sand, swimming, conditioning outdoors - these have become part of the rhythm of my preparation.
There is no shortcut.
Every round, every session and every difficult day adds something.
As we like to say:
"They raise mountains; we climb them."
Sozopol means more
Fighting in Sozopol is different.
When I walk towards the ring there, I am not simply entering another venue. I see people I have known for years. I see the town that raised me. I know that friends, family and people who have followed my journey from the beginning are only metres away.
That creates pressure - but it also gives me energy.
Sozopol has become my arena.
And on 11 September, I return there again.
This time the challenge becomes even greater. I will be looking for my 13th consecutive professional victory and preparing for the first defence of the title I won in my hometown.
The opponent represents the kind of test I now need: vastly experienced, with hundreds of amateur bouts behind him and experience at world-class level.
That is exactly what I want.
At this stage of my career, easy fights do not move me towards the goal. I need opponents who force me to become better.
Looking towards the top
Earlier in my career, reaching the world rankings felt distant.
Then came the Top 100.
Then the WBC title.
Then a place among the leading contenders in the division.
Each milestone changes your perspective. What once looked far away suddenly becomes something you can see in front of you.
There are champions and elite fighters above me, and I know exactly what that means: there is still a mountain to climb.
But that is the point.
I do not want to reach a comfortable level and stay there. I want the difficult camps, the demanding sparring sessions and the opponents who make people wonder whether I am ready.
Because every one of those challenges is an opportunity to answer the same question.
How high can I go?
For now, all attention is on 11 September and Sozopol.
My hometown. My people. My arena.
And another step towards the biggest fights in world boxing.
