Harry Perry won nine Irish senior boxing titles at four different weights across a decade of dominance in Irish amateur boxing, competed at two Olympic Games – Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960 – and won a bronze medal at the 1959 European Championships in Lucerne, where he had to withdraw from the semi-final due to a hand injury.

He was inducted into the Irish Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007. A member of British Railways Boxing Club in Dublin, Perry had won the Irish senior lightweight title in 1955 and outpointed Fred Tiedt in the National Championships before the 1956 Games, but was persuaded by the IABA to drop to light-welterweight to accommodate both men in the Olympic squad.

Fighting below his natural weight in Melbourne, he faced Claude Saluden of France in his opening bout and lost on points.

At Rome in 1960, boxing at welterweight – his more natural division – he was eliminated in the first round. His commitment to his teammates extended beyond his own competition: in Melbourne, when only seven berths were available on the first homeward flight, he voluntarily stayed behind with boxing captain Tony Byrne to ensure his captain did not make the long journey home alone.

Beyond boxing, Perry was a talented rugby player who won a Junior Cup with Terenure College RFC as an out-half and an FAI Junior Cup with Rathfarnham, before leaving those sports to concentrate on boxing. He held a mathematics degree and worked as a teacher, and later became President of Delgany Golf Club. He passed away on 22 January 2021.