In fact he took some attention of me when he beat Travis Bagent at the Niagara Falls event in late 2002, I was there as well and to some Travis pinned him there and it was not called but still pin or not it was impressive performance by Devon to catch and beat Travis from there. Then he again made his presence to be known when he gave a very tough hook match to John Brzenk in Superstar Showdown event in 2004. Again I saw him at Mike Gould Classic event in 2005 where he lost against Travis. These were the years that I believe Devon was stil trying to figure out what to do to become the best but then he was mostly depending on his physical skills with dedicated spirit.

 In 2006 when he beat Ron Bath at Mike Gould Classic event he took the attention of the armwrestling world but still he did not seem to be in the league of the very best ones in the world such as John, Ferit and Travis who were in great shape in that year. Then I heard that Devon was going to pull Taras in Dubai and to me it was an exciting meeting. Taras looked big and power but Devon was able to beat him with a dead wrist first two rounds after some serious battles. Later rounds Taras attacked more to the side way than pure outside move and beat Devon 4-2. I am sure that Devon learnt a lot after that match and as far as I saw he started to improve his outside skill after that year. I believe that Devon started to focus on it’s intelligent part more and more after those experiences and became more effective. His win against Travis in England, many other victories against Randall, Bresnan and esspecially against John in England were just making him the best front of the eyes of majority in the armwrestling world. His victory against Michael Todd was another proof that he was a technical master as well. Because I believe that Devon was the first top athlete that experenced that big and different styled Michael but still he was able to figure out what to do against him to win. Of course his great endurance played an important role as well but what he did there was the right thing and opened a door to some others who beat Michael later. Of course knowing what to do and being capable of doing what needs to be done are also different things and Devon was well rounded enough to do what he had to do.

  Devon’s supermatch Victory against Pushkar was also shocking for the armwrestling world and made him more respected as an athlete at the east side of the world. His slow controlling style allowed his opponents to hit and pressed on his arm for years and finally he experienced the serious injury that needed to be operated. No matter how good recover if you are not very young these surgeries take some of your power away from you. Or you would not be capable of some of the things that you had been before the surgery. This made Devon to focus on his left more and more and he had wins even against Travis even though I believe Travis beat Devon most of the times that they met with left arm.

  Right now I believe Devon may be the best in the world in his own weight category but in unlimited category anymore. But if he gains some weight he will still be one of the absolute best if not the very best as he has such potential.

 Devon is not known only by the things that he has been doing at the table but with his attitude to the armwrestlers all over the world he is loved by the most. His willingness to help new comers is appreciated by everyone. For sure he is one of the best pullers in the history of the armwrestling World and I wish him the best.

Engin Terzi