CLARKSBURG, Md. (WUSA) -- We've all heard the expression "Don't judge a book by its cover," but we all do it anyway. We make assumptions about who a person is based on what we see, and a lot of times we're wrong. One young man in Clarksburg, Maryland looks one part but plays a very different one.
Dillon Hayman may look like a surfer or a California kid because of the long hair, but he's not. He doesn't look like your everyday boxer and he uses that to his advantage.
"They think, 'he's a kid from the suburbs, we can walk through this kid,'" said coach Jason Boyer, head of Frederick Fight Club.
But they would be wrong. His opponents typically end up punch drunk. His licks are so lethal, they require double wrap. This year he won the prestigious Golden Gloves junior division, using his trademark body blows.
It was music to his coaches' ears.
Speaking of music, it hit him before he began hitting others.
"I went to a lot of my dad's gigs when I was younger," he shared.
The accomplished guitarist and pianist says he might just pursue that but we wondered: how do you go from pianos and guitars to knocking people out?
Dillon says once he steps inside the ring, he flips a switch and it's just like that.
"At some point Jason says 'flip the switch' and at that point it's kinda more of a stalk..." explained Dillon.
Stalk is a good way to describe it. He plans to turn pro next April and says he'll continue his juggling act, dishing out hits and making hits.
"I just want to make sure that he's happy. I support him either way," said Boyer.
And hey -- maybe there's a title in his future?
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