Graham Earl
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Graham Earl (born 26 August 1978) is a British former
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who competed between 1997 and 2014. He held the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
title twice between 2003 and 2006, the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
lightweight title from 2005 to 2006, and challenged once for the
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
interim lightweight title in 2007.


Amateur career

Earl began boxing at the age of eight. As an
amateur boxer An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...
, he fought for England Schools and won his first eighteen fights.Earl Cunliffe, James (1 July 2007)
"Graham Earl: 'I'm going to be a champion and put Luton on the map'"
''Luton on Sunday''.
Local World Local World Holdings Ltd. was a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK that published around 100 print titles and more than 70 websites. It was formed in 2012 by David Montgomery, a former chief executive of Reach plc, Trinity Mirror, to b ...
. Retrieved 7 February 2016.


Professional career

Earl made his professional debut on 2 September 1997, scoring a second-round stoppage over Mark O'Callaghan. He would spend the next eight years undefeated, winning 21 consecutive fights. During this time Earl won the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
title twice, on 17 July 2003 and 5 June 2004, both times against Bobby Vanzie. On 25 February 2005, Earl lost for the first time to
Ricky Burns Ricky Burns (born 13 April 1983) is a Scottish professional boxer who held the WBO super-featherweight title from 2010 to 2011, the WBO lightweight title from 2012 to 2014, and the WBA light welterweight title from 2016 to 2017. At regional ...
, who won an eight-round
points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges who agree on which ...
. In Earl's next fight, on 19 June 2005, he bounced back to retain his British lightweight title and win the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
lightweight title against Kevin Bennett. On 17 February 2007, a bout for the newly created and vacant
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
interim lightweight title was made between Earl and
Michael Katsidis Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; ; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim championship, interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010 ...
. In an action-packed and fast-paced fight, Earl and Katsidis went toe-to-toe and traded many heavy blows, during which Earl was knocked down twice in the opening round and again in the second. However, soon after getting back to his feet following the third knockdown and having the towel being thrown in seconds later (only for it to be thrown back out again by referee
Mickey Vann Michael Van Norman better known as Mickey Vann (born 29 December 1943 in London, England) is a former boxer and British boxing referee. Vann was a 'Class A Star' referee and boxing judge., BritishBoxing.net, retrieved 5 April 2008 He arbitrated ...
), Earl managed to floor Katsidis momentarily with a heavy right hand at close quarters, rendering the latter visibly stunned and unsteady on his feet. Earl's comeback would ultimately be short-lived, as Katsidis recovered swiftly and finished the round strongly. At the very end of round three, a low blow cost Katsidis a point, but in the following rounds he went on to deliver a barrage of largely unanswered punches to Earl until the decision was made Earl's cornermen to stop the fight after the fifth round. Earl suffered his third loss and second in a row on 8 December 2007, when he was stopped in the first round by Amir Khan. This was repeated by Henry Castle on 17 October 2008, who stopped Earl in one round. After a five-year retirement, Earl returned to the sport on 4 July 2014. He travelled to Australia to face Michael Katsidis in a rematch from their 2007 bout, this time at
light-welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
. Katsidis won a wide twelve-round
unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...
. Earl's final professional fight was a ten-round stoppage loss to Steve Martin on 22 August 2014.


Personal life

The youngest of three brothers, Earl grew up in the
Limbury Limbury is a suburb of Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, and was formerly a village before Luton expanded around it. The area is roughly bounded by Bramingham Road to the north, Marsh Road to the so ...
council estate of Luton and attended Icknield High School. He has two children with his ex-wife. In April 2015, Earl was sentenced to seven years in prison for
illegal drug trafficking The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...
.Parris-Long, Adam (30 April 2015)
"Luton boxing star Graham Earl jailed for drug offences"
''Leighton Buzzard Observer''. Retrieved 7 February 2016.


Professional boxing record


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Graham 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Luton English male boxers Lightweight boxers Commonwealth Boxing Council champions Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers English drug traffickers British sportspeople convicted of crimes