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By courtesy of The News, Portsmouth
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PROMOTER Peter Arnett was among the spectators and
he was not slow to sign up the Officers' Steward for a series of
professional bouts. And what a crowd-pleaser Ingram proved to be with
his good looks, magnificent physique and aggressive two-fisted style.
It was inevitable that sooner or later on his upward climb Ingram
would clash with the then featherweight champion of Hampshire, Fred Mills,
the Gosport shoemaker, and their 15-rounds duel at the Connaught will long
be remembered.
There was nothing spectacular or showy about Mills.
He was a good, honest craftsman well versed in ring lore, who gave a
practical demonstration of the fact that a straight left, properly
delivered, is the master stroke in boxing.
Take one full in the face
with the weight of his body behind it and you had the impression of
colliding with a brick wall. I know, because Mills and I were
members of the same R.A.F. boxing team towards the end of World War I and we
frequently had work-outs together at the Bath training centre.
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