'Big Country'

CANADIAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

On the cool autumn night of October 25, 2014, Canadian boxing history was made as Madoc, Ontario behemoth, Dillon “Big Country” Carman won the prestigious Canadian heavyweight title, in dramatic fashion by knocking out Eric Martel Bahoeli in seven exciting rounds.

The Carman-Bahoeli bout was voted the Canadian Fight of the Year for 2014. More importantly, however, the match announced the arrival of a thrilling, new and charismatic Canadian heavyweight king. It would be no exaggeration to say that Canadian boxing fans were waiting many years for someone as vibrant, exciting and personable as Carman to come along and revive the Canadian heavyweight scene. Long suffering fight fans all across Canada had their prayers answered when Carman’s huge arm was raised triumphantly in victory on that memorable night.

The current reigning and defending Canadian heavyweight champion, Dillon “Big Country” Carman was born on June 15, 1986 near Belleville, in the small, rural Ontario town of Madoc, which has a population of about 1300 people. Sherri Carman, Dillon’s mom, raised her son and daughter Rebecca on her own. Sherri Carman broke her back at the age of 16 and was told by doctors that she would never walk again. Showing the toughness and grit that her son Dillon would become famous for, Sherri Carman was determined to get healthy and get ahead in life and some day, walk again. Her toughness, grit and determination to fully recover, which she did, heavily influenced her children in a very positive manner. Carman claims he gets his steel will, inner resolve and formidable strength from her.

Formidable is the right word as Carman stands 6’5” and weighs 240 lbs. Carman was a typical Canadian kid, fighting often in school. However, unlike many Canadian kids, he won all of his fights. As is typical in most high schools, older kids decided to test his resolve but soon learned that discretion was definitely the better part of valor when it came to picking on Carman. Ironically, like most athletes who make their living with their fists, Carman is very kind, considerate and gentle outside of the ring.

Carman credits his current success to the generosity of all those people who helped raise him and his sister and kept them on the straight and narrow even in the hardest of times, and especially after his mother suffered her catastrophic back injury and was unable to work or care for her own children. Carman also credits his communal upbringing for the values it instilled in him and his sister, such as hard work, honesty, integrity and respect.

Carman moved to Texas where he captured the 2007 Golden Gloves heavyweight title in the novice division. Two years later in 2009, he won the Texas State Golden Gloves heavyweight title outright.

It was then that Carman moved back to Canada where his friend, Steve Molitor, the former two-time world super bantamweight champion, hooked him up with his current trainer Billy Martin. One thing Carman had from early on in his career was charisma. He has always had an electrifying effect on the crowd when he makes his entrance to the ring. Carman’s ring skills and generalship have improved dramatically with each successive fight. He is now a powerful ring force, capable of knocking out any opponent with either hand at any time in a fight.

On October 25th 2014 Dillon won the undisputed Canadian Heavyweight Title in dramatic fashion, with a TKO win over Eric Martel Bahoeli in the 7th round. Since that time, Carman has proudly represented Canada across North America and the World.