At the recent annual banquet of the Boston branch of the International Veteran Boxers Association, Devlin, a former correction officer and welterweight boxer, received the Man of the Year award.

The Boston branch of the International Association, known as Ring Four, honored Devlin for his sponsorship of numerous activities as co-owner of the Triple D's Sports Bar and Restaurant in Jamaica Plain.

These sponsorships include baseball teams on all levels from Little League to Park League, men's and women's softball teams, bowling teams, summer camps for children, and the Golden Gloves program. And, in his own quiet way, Joe has helped many former boxers who have been down on their luck.

Ten years ago Joe was earlier voted into the Ring Four Boxers Hall of Fame, which includes such well-known former local ring warriors as Tony DeMarco, Paul Pender, Tommy Collins, Tom McNeely, Joe DeNucci, Mickey Dwyer, Sal Bartolo, “Irish” Bobby Quinn and Jack Sharkey.

“It was during the '50s and Boston was still a boxing hotbed,” recalls Association President Ralph White who worked as a C.O. earlier in his career. “Joe and his family moved to Mansfield. Joe got in his roadwork running to the Walpole prison in the morning and training in the gym at night. It was a tough grind,” White said.

Devlin had eighteen pro-fights and was undefeated when on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1958, he fought undefeated Tony Veranis at sold-out Boston Garden. Joe won by a KO. Joe DeNucci, on the same card, was also a winner.

Joe then went on to beat a tough Canadian Champ, Armand Savoie, in a brutal ten rounds before 6,000 fans at the old Mechanics Hall in Boston. Devlin's nose was severely damaged during the battle between the two warriors. After that bout, Joe retired from the ring for two years before coming back in 1960 for two more victories and then finally hanging up the gloves.

During his career as a correction officer, Devlin and his wife Helen raised a family of nine and they now have 18 grandchildren. Bernie Doherty, his trainer, is also retired from the Dept. of Correction. He now lives in West Palm Beach Florida. Another member, Joe's buddy Joe Lordan, a retired Boston firefighter, also lives in West Palm Beach next door to the Devlin's winter home. In fact, there is a slew of Association members who are neighbors within the same West Palm Beach complex.

And on a balmy winter eve when they get together for a cookout, the talk always turns to sports, and inevitably some of Joe Devlin's fights. Oh, what memories.