By the age of 82, James (Sonny) Ingram of North Little Rock had collected 100 or more victories over amateur boxers in various tournaments. From 1952, when he first attracted attention in the ring, he brushed it off. This was about seven years before he decided to turn professional.
Actually, his plan was to use his fight purses to subsidize expenses for the engraving career he had in mind.
On June 1, 1959, Ingram was matched with Chico Gomez, the “Fighting Gypsy” from New Orleans. About 3,000 saw the match at Little Rock’s Robinson Auditorium. Ingram’s left hook ended the fight in the fifth round.
Outdoors on June 18 at West Memphis, Ingram rallied in the middle rounds for a narrow 10-round decision over Clarence Cook. At that point, Ingram had only two pro fights under his belt, and Cook was a slick veteran of 45 or 50 fights.
On July 23, a crowd of about 2,000 saw Ingram stop an unknown contestant named Jimmy Gilliand in three rounds. The ring was pitched in the middle of War Memorial Stadium turf. (There hasn’t been such a display since.)
Ingram visited Mobile, Ala., on Aug. 10 and knocked out someone named Buddy Wilson in four rounds. On Sept. 10 at West Memphis, Ingram stopped Mel Brecht on a fourth-round TKO.
At Blytheville on Oct. 7, Ingram finished Murrell Lee with a three round TKO. Jack Brawley, Lee’s manager, said he had a contract guarantee for a return bout (He possibly still has it, but there was never a rematch.)
From June 1 to Oct. 7, Sonny Ingram’s six fight purses apparently had netted about $2,500. A day or so after Ingram’s bout at Blytheville, the local paper had splashed SONNY TO QUIT over the front page.
“Obviously the money is Sonny’s,” said Ray Rodgers, Little Rock’s man-about-boxing, “He earned his money. He went into engraving, used it for his career. I wouldn’t doubt that he has about as good a reputation as any engraver in Pulaski county.”
Ingram is in his 80s, so obviously he won’t be boxing again. He is beginning to retire after 30 years, but he also said, “Well, if I happened to be in the office and somebody came in looking for a little something they needed - well, I could possibly help.”
“There are so many things about Sonny Ingram,” Rogers said last week. “Absolutely, he’ll do what he can for anybody.”
The Marines drafted him in 1952, and fed him with plenty of boxing activity throughout his hitch. His high point came when his trainers told him he would be boxing a three-round exhibition with Archie Moore, then the No. 1 challenger to the world light-heavyweight champion, whoever that might have been at the time.
“He was a powerful hitter, but not very fast,” Ingram recently explained. “When the bell rang, I wasted no time hitting him with good left hook. He stepped back, looked me over, and said something like, ‘Son, we’ve got nearly three full rounds to go.’
“Sure enough, we did.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 07/02/2013