Graham Earl (born 26 August 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2014. He held the British lightweight title twice between 2003 and 2006, the Commonwealth lightweight title from 2005 to 2006, and challenged once for the WBO interim lightweight title in 2007.
Amateur career Earl began boxing at the age of eight. As an amateur boxer, 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. 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 lightweight 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, who won an eight-round points decision. In Earl's next fight, on 19 June 2005, he bounced back to retain his British lightweight title and win the Commonwealth lightweight title against Kevin Bennett.
On 17 February 2007, a bout for the newly created and vacant WBO interim lightweight title was made between Earl and Michael Katsidis. 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), 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 left to rue Katsidis battle". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
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.Gilmour, Rod et al. (8 December 2007). "Amir Khan defeats Graham Earl in first round". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 7 February 2016. This was repeated by Henry Castle on 17 October 2008, who stopped Earl in one round.Turner, Mike (20 October 2008). "Henry is king of the castle". Western Telegraph. Newsquest. Retrieved 7 February 2016. 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. Katsidis won a wide twelve-round unanimous decision.Donovan, Jake (4 July 2014). "Michael Katsidis Settles For Decision In Rout of Graham Earl". BoxingScene. Retrieved 7 February 2016. Earl's final professional fight was a ten-round stoppage loss to Steve Martin on 22 August 2014.James, Marc (25 August 2014). "Martin crowned World Boxing Champion". Malta Today. MediaToday Ltd. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
Personal life The youngest of three brothers, Earl grew up in the Limbury 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.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
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes32Loss26–6Steve MartinTKO10 (12), 22 Aug 201431Loss26–5Michael KatsidisUD124 Jul 201430Win26–4Karl TaylorPTS628 Jun 200929Loss25–4Henry CastleTKO1 (8), 17 Oct 200828Loss25–3Amir KhanTKO1 (12), 8 Dec 200727Loss25–2Michael Katsidis5 (12), 17 Feb 200726Win25–1Angel Hugo Ramirez1228 Oct 200625Win24–1Yuri RamanauPTS1227 Jan 200624Win23–1Kevin BennettTKO9 (12), 19 Jun 200523Loss22–1Ricky BurnsPTS825 Feb 200522Win22–0Steve MurrayTKO6 (12), 30 Jul 200421Win21–0Bobby VanziePTS125 Jun 200420Win20–0Jon HonneyPTS811 Oct 200319Win19–0Bobby VanziePTS1217 Jul 200318Win18–0Nikolay EremeevPTS824 May 200317Win17–0Steve MurrayTKO2 (12), 15 Feb 200316Win16–0Chill JohnPTS1012 Oct 200215Win15–0Mark WintersPTS1015 Dec 200114Win14–0Liam MaltbyKO1 (10)22 Sep 200113Win13–0Brian GentryTKO8 (10)10 Mar 200112Win12–0Leeroy WilliamsonTKO3 (6)21 Oct 200011Win11–0Marco FattorePTS629 Apr 200010Win10–0Ivo GolakovTKO1 (6)4 Mar 20009Win9–0Simon Chambers6 (6), 15 Jul 19998Win8–0Benny JonesPTS68 May 19997Win7–0Leeroy WilliamsonTKO4 (4), 16 Jan 19996Win6–0Marc SmithTKO1 (6), 10 Dec 19985Win5–0Brian ColemanPTS412 Sep 19984Win4–0David KirkPTS423 May 19983Win3–0Danny LutaayaTKO2 (4), 11 Apr 19982Win2–0Mark McGowan46 Dec 19971Win1–0Mark O'Callaghan2 (4)2 Sep 1997
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