Derek Boyer (born 14 June 1969) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an-Australian world champion powerlifter, former professional strongman competitor and actor.

Strongman and powerlifting

Boyer has competed seven times in the World's Strongest Man contest, reaching the finals in 1997."Biography"
strongestman.billhenderson.org He is the reigning 12 time

Australia's Strongest Man Australia's Strongest Man is an annual strongman contest consisting of exclusively Australian strength athletes. The event was established in 1993. The first inaugural winner was Bill Lyndon, who preceded a number of different Australian strength ...

, winning from 2000–2011. Boyer goes by the nickname "The Island Warrior". He has won numerous powerlifting titles in Australia. Boyer currently holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for heaviest truck pulled, after he pulled a Kenworth K104 truck weighing 51,840 kg (114,287 lb - 51.84 metric tons) over a level 100 ft (30.48 m) course in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on 6 March 2005. He captured his 11th straight Australia's Strongest Man title on 5 June 2010.

Acting and television

Boyer has portrayed Bayman in '' DOA: Dead or Alive'' and promoted the steel products company Orcon, as Orcon's "Man of Steel", featuring Orcon's trackside promotional efforts at V8 Supercars events where Orcon has been a sponsor of race teams, Larkham Motor Sport, WPS Racing and Ford Performance Racing. He took on the role of 'Thunder' in the revived version of the Australian television sports entertainment series '' Gladiators'' in 2008. He specialized in strength events like Duel, Whiplash and Sumo Ball, where he used his weight advantage. Boyer appeared on Channel nine's ''The Footy Show'' (AFL) on 19 August 2010 and with Shane Crawford attempted the world record for the most bench presses (weight had to be over 100 kg) in a minute. With no practice at all he achieved 116 with the record standing at 121. In a later attempt on the record on 23 September on ''The Footy Show'', Boyer managed to break the record completing 126 bench presses. Boyer was featured on the SBS program Housos as Bubbles, a prisoner who takes a shine to the "white meat" of Dazza Jones, and reprised his role in season 7 of Fat Pizza: Back in Business in 2021. Boyer appeared on an episode of Big Brother and in 2014, he was featured on 7mate's Bogan Hunters as a celebrity judge.

Retirement and return to competition

On 14 September 2010, Boyer temporarily retired from strongman competition in a letter sent to Federation of Australian Strength Competitors (FASC) president Bill Lyndon. He stated that he will be focusing on powerlifting and

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

, and he won the Heavyweight category in the 2010 Australian Sumo Championships. However he quickly came out of retirement just six months later.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Derek 1969 births Living people Australian male film actors Fijian strength athletes Australian strength athletes Australian powerlifters Fijian male film actors Fijian emigrants to Australia Australian male television actors Sportspeople from Lautoka Fijian people of British descent Fijian sumo wrestlers Australian sumo wrestlers Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Male actors from the Gold Coast, Queensland