Local boxing superstar teams up with dragons

By Tyler Renaud 

BELLEVILLE – Madoc native Dillon Carman, the Canadian heavyweight boxing champion, is teaming up with a couple of dragons.

Carman appeared on the CBC television show Dragons’ Den last Thursday. The show revolves around inventors and businesspeople pitching business plans with the hope that one or more investors – the Dragons – will invest in their product or business. Carman wanted $50,000 from the Dragons in exchange for five per cent of all future earnings in his boxing career.

Carman’s offer was well-received: three investors agreed to partner with him.

He says he couldn’t be happier.

“My dreams came true that day,” Carman told QNet News in a telephone interview from Toronto, where he trains. “Those people are very wealthy, powerful people and they got to the positions they are in now because of who they are – the business savvy and mindset that they have.

“When you surround yourself with these types of people you’re only going to succeed.”

Carman was seeking the $50,000 to pay for training and allow him to focus exclusively on his boxing. He said he was confident in his pitch.

“When I became the Canadian heavyweight champ, I gained some leverage or became a proven horse – you can tell I’m capable and ready to work hard,” he said.

He won the championship in October 2014 and currently has nine wins and two losses with eight knockouts.

“The money will be used to improve my training camp. I have never had the opportunity to just focus 100 per cent on training, on what I have to do to better myself as a boxer,” Carman said.

“I have to worry about rent, car payments, insurance and just real-life stuff. I’ve always had to work and train. So now this gives me the opportunity to just solely focus on boxing. Up to this point, I have never been able to get up to my full potential. Now I will be – and the world better look out.”

He hopes his improved training will translate into a world-champion shot, he said.

During the Dragon’s Den episode, Carman said he was disappointed that nobody knew who the Canadian heavyweight champion, or even the world heavyweight champion, was. He plans to change that, he told QNet News.

“I just have to be myself – keep winning these fights, and keep doing these interviews. Before me there hasn’t been a lot of guys that have a real interesting back story. They’re good but they’re just fighters,” he said.

“Myself, I have a lot going for me: I am a personable, manageable guy. I just feel like when you actually get to know me as a human being, as opposed to just a boxer, it’s going to be a lot better for the sport.”

The path to the world heavyweight championship starts Jan. 21, when Carman battles Canadian Eric Barrack, who has eight wins and three losses, at the Montreal Casino.