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Born in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn on March 9th 1972, Earl was the second of four sons of travelling showmen Ronald and Pauline Ling. As a showman, his childhood was spent travelling the length and breadth of the country, forming part of a close-knit community, working with his parents and brothers at fairgrounds and fetes.
Earl had a gentle, quiet nature and found it difficult to cope with the sometimes aggressive, playful nature of the average child. He also had a bad stammer which meant he became painfully shy and lacked in confidence as a young boy, and all this resulted in Earl being teased and bullied by other youngsters and showmen’s children. He subsequently left school at the age of just eleven, having attended White Friars’ Primary school, and by this time, (after being inspired by the Rocky films, but also encouraged by his parents) he had already taken up boxing and had been with the Lynn Friars’ Amateur Boxing Club for about a year.
In 1983 his family moved to Norwich and Earl moved to the Norwich Lads’ Amateur Boxing Club. He took up Karate at the age of twelve, and two years later took a three year break from boxing. Although Earl had a natural flair for Karate, he gave up martial arts aged sixteen, to return to his first love, boxing, and he found that his confidence grew through participating in the sport. He was with the Broadside A.B.C, and saw varying degrees of success. He enjoyed outstanding wins at amateur level, treating his many local fans to some fierce and vicious boxing shows. Unfortunately, he also suffered his fair share of lows- disappointing defeats brought about by Earl’s uncontrollable temper in the ring, which soon earned him the name Earl ‘Wild Thing’ Ling amongst his rapidly growing fan base.
When he was twenty years old, the Wild Thing turned professional with local manager Gordon Holmes. His Pro career followed a similar pattern, with blinding highs and crashing lows, but with a fiercely loyal following from his Norwich fans. Earl was the biggest ticket seller at the majority of boxing shows he fought in- his irresistible blend of careful boxing skill and unpredictable roaring rage making for nerve-wrecking excitement for all those who witnessed him in the ring.
By 1993 Earl’s short temper had gained him attention not only in boxing and travelling circles, but also outside them, with the local constabulary, and 1993 saw Earl’s first brush with the wrong side of the law. This began Earl’s temperamental relationship with the police in Norwich, as he quickly learned he had both caring, loyal friends and ruthless opposition within the force itself. On this occasion, Earl was found guilty of common assault, fined £300 and had to serve 160 hours of community service.
Another dramatic change came for Earl in 1993, as he decided to stop travelling through the summer with his parents and reside year-round on the showman’s site in Norwich.’93 and ’94 are described by Earl as fun, happy times, as staying in Norwich all year meant being closer to his long term girlfriend, Hayley, (also a travellers’ daughter) to whom in 1993 he was engaged, and in 1995 they married.
A couple of quiet years followed, Earl had taken a break from boxing, so his time was divided between working out, running a doughnut kiosk in Wells, belonging to his wife’s family, (which also resulted in a few scrapes with troublesome holiday makers or renowned local hard men who were keen to challenge the young boxer from the city- which of course they would later regret!) and also attending Ipswich YMCA to train as a qualified fitness instructor.
In 1997 he took his training further with a diploma in sport’s therapy at Norwich City College. He led two classes a week for circuit training and also began working as a doorman in Norwich’s biggest club at the time, Ritzy. Earl was working under Graham Everett, then his boxing trainer since 1994.
The trouble began again. Assault charge after assault charge was brought against Earl, although most never even reached court. Several factors contributed to this turbulent period in Earl’s life- having thrown himself into the deep end of the world of nightlife and clubs, he was new to the ways in which normal, everyday people behaved when combining alcohol and nightlife. Earl had always been a person who lives his life quietly and modestly, not a huge drinker, so it was a big shock to him to learn that many men would go on a night out LOOKING to fight- and in Norwich, many of them seemed to be looking to fight him. His reputation was beginning to be known, and Earl was no longer prepared to take the teasing, taunting and goading he suffered as a nervous, stammering child. He would fight back, unaware of the damage his power as a trained professional boxer could do.
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