Assen Zlatev was born on May 23, 1960, in the village of Tsarimir, Plovdiv Region. The reason for him to turn to the Vassil Levski Sports School in Plovdiv was probably the fact that he lost his father at the age of 10. His amazing sports career places him among the greatest sportsmen Bulgaria ever had. Weight Classes Assen Zlatev competed in: Middleweight (75KG), Light Heavyweight (82.5KG),

The 1980 Moscow Olympics happened to be the only one for him. Although the hard training for another three Olympic Games, circumstances got in his way- the BG team boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; the BG team withdrew from participation in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he got ill. Therefore he obtained just one title of Olympic Champion.  Medals from Summer Olympics and World Championships - altogether 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze; World Records - 13.

Honorary Citizen of Plovdiv (the year 2000).