Bulgaria's Pulev Dedicates Olympic Medal to Coach, Cancer-Stricken Petrov

Boxer Tervel Pulev, who won the first medal for Bulgaria from the London Olympics after making it to the semi-final in the heavyweight class, has dedicated the prize to his coach and Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov, who is battling leukemia.

"I want to dedicate this medal to my personal trainer Borislav Boyadzhiev who supported me even in the darkest of times when I felt and was practically abandoned by everyone, back in 2007 and 2008," Pulev told Bulgarian reporters in London.

Boby Boyadzhiev was the only person, who never stopped believing in me and training me without getting any money for that. He did it just out of respect for me and his love of boxing. I also was to dedicate this medal to Stiliyan Petrov, because he is a great captain, and, of course, to all Bulgarians!"

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov was shockingly diagnosed with acute leukemia earlier this year.

Late Sunday night, Tervel Pulev beat 13:10 Jara Yamil Peralta from Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 91 kg category.

By qualifying to the semi-final, the Bulgarian boxer has won his first ever Olympic medal. It is yet to become clear whether that will be a gold, silver, or bronze one.

At the semi-final, Pulev will face Aleksandr Usik from Ukraine. The match is scheduled for 3:30 pm GMT / 5:30 EET on Friday.

"I am trying not to think about this match. Usik is a world champion, after all," the Bulgarian boxer admitted.

Tervel Pulev is the younger brother of Kubrat Pulev, the first Bulgarian professional boxer.

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