Harold "Harry" George Devine (May 18, 1909 – April 29, 1998) was an American boxer who competed in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated fro ...

. He was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

and died in

North Oxford, Massachusetts Oxford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,347 as of the 2020 United States Census. History Oxford was first settled in 1687 and was officially incorporated in 1713. It was the birthplace of Clara ...

Amateur career

Devine was national AAU featherweight champion in 1928 and represented the United States in the 1928 Olympics in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. There he defeated Fausto Montefiori of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the Second Round and Kaarlo Vakeva of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the Third Round. In the Semi-Final Round on August 10 he was beaten by

Bep van Klaveren Lambertus "Bep" van Klaveren (26 September 1907 – 12 February 1992) was a Dutch boxer, who won the gold medal in the featherweight division at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Van Klaveren remains the only Dutch boxer to have won an Oly ...

(who went on to take the Gold Medal) despite flooring Van Klaveren in the second round. Devine won the bronze medal in the featherweight class after winning the third place fight against Lucian Biquet.

1928 Olympic results

Below is the record of Harold Devine. Devine was an American featherweight boxer who competed at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics: * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: defeated Fausto Montefiore (Italy) on points * Quarterfinal: defeated Kaarlo Vakeva (Finland) on points * Semifinal: lost to Bep van Klaveren (Netherlands) on points * Bronze Medal Bout: defeated Lucian Biquet (Belgium) on points (was awarded bronze medal)

Pro career

As a professional, Devine was handicapped by being a southpaw who was avoided by other good fighters. Hand injuries held him back and he lost twice on cut eyes. Despite this he won the New England welterweight title in 1934 by defeating Werther Arcelli and defended it successfully against Pancho Villa of New Bedford, Massachusetts, before losing it to Frankie Britt. In 1935 he went to Australia, where he suffered two severe setbacks and then retired from the ring.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, Harold 1909 births 1998 deaths Boxers from Connecticut Featherweight boxers Boxers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Sportspeople from New Haven, Connecticut American male boxers Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics