Lionel Rose

Lionel Edmund Rose MBE (21 June 1948 – 8 May 2011) was an Australian professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title. He later became the first Indigenous Australian to be named Australian of the Year.

Rose was the 2003 inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame "moderns" category and was the second person to be elevated to "legend" status in 2010.

Background Born and raised at Jacksons Track in Victoria as well as the town of Warragul, Rose grew up in hardship and learned to box from his father, Roy, who was a skilled fighter at local house shows. Rose was of the Gunditjmara (Dhauwurd Wurrung) people.

Later, at the age of 10, Rose was given a pair of boxing gloves by his teacher, Ian Hawkins (who observed him shadow boxing). Aged about 15, he went under the tutelage of Frank Oakes, a Warragul trainer (whose daughter Jenny he later married). He won the Australian amateur flyweight title at 15. He was the godfather to model and actress Ruby Rose.

Professional boxing career

After missing selection for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Rose began his professional boxing career at age 16, on 9 September 1964, outpointing Mario Magris over eight rounds. This fight was in Warragul, but the majority of Rose's fights were held in Melbourne. Along the way he was helped by Jack and Shirley Rennie, in whose Melbourne home he stayed, training every day in their backyard gym.

After five wins in a row, on 23 July 1965, Rose was rematched with Singtong Por Tor, whom he had beaten in a 12-round decision. Por Tor inflicted Rose's first defeat, beating him on points in six rounds. On 14 October of the same year, he had his first fight abroad, beating Laurie Ny by a decision in 10 rounds at Christchurch, New Zealand.

Over his next nine fights, Rose had a record of eight wins and one loss, with one knockout. The lone loss in those nine fights was to Ray Perez, against whom Rose split a pair of bouts. Then at age 18, on 28 October 1966, he met Noel Kunde at Melbourne for the Australian bantamweight title. He won the title by defeating Kunde in a 15-round decision.

Rose won one more bout in 1966 and eight in 1967 (including a thirteenth-round knockout win against Rocky Gattellari to defend his Australian championship) before challenging Fighting Harada for the world bantamweight title on 26 February 1968 in Tokyo. Rose made history by becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to be a world champion boxer when he defeated Harada in a 15-round decision.National Film and Sound Archive: Lionel Rose World Title on australianscreen online. Aso.gov.au. Retrieved on 24 July 2015. This win made Rose an instant national hero in Australia and an icon among Aboriginal Australians. A public reception at Melbourne Town Hall was witnessed by a crowd of more than 10,000. On 2 July of that year, he returned to Tokyo to retain his title with a 15-round decision win over Takao Sakurai. Then, on 6 December, he met Chucho Castillo at the Inglewood Forum in Inglewood, California. Rose beat Castillo by decision, but the points verdict in favour of him infuriated many in the pro-Castillo crowd and a riot began: 14 fans and fight referee Dick Young were hospitalised for injuries received.

On 8 March 1969, Rose retained the title with a 15-round decision over Alan Rudkin, but five months later he returned to Inglewood, where he faced Rubén Olivares on 22 August. Rose lost the world bantamweight title to Olivares via a fifth-round knockout.

Rose continued boxing after his defeat against Olivares, but, after defeats against practically unknown fighters, many believed he was done as a prime fighter. However, he was far from finished: he upset future world lightweight champion Itshimatsu Suzuki on 10 October 1970 in a 10-round decision, and once again, he positioned himself as a world title challenger, albeit in the lightweight division, 17 pounds over the division where he crowned himself world champion.

Despite having lost to Jeff White for the Australian lightweight title, Rose got another world title try when he faced WBC world junior lightweight champion Yoshiaki Numata, on 30 May 1971 at Hiroshima. Numata beat Rose by a fifteen-round decision, and Rose announced his retirement soon after.

In 1975, he came back, but after losing four of his next six bouts, including one against Rafael Limón, Rose decided to retire for good. Rose compiled a record of 42 wins and 11 losses as a professional boxer, with 12 wins by knockout.

Singing career During his time off from boxing in the 1970s, Rose embarked on a modest singing career in Australia having hits with "I Thank You" and "Please Remember Me" in 1970. Produced and written by Johnny Young and engineered by John L Sayers, the song "I Thank You" was a top 5 nationwide hit. Comedic sports commentators Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson played it as a substitute to the Australian national anthem during radio broadcasts of the State of Origin series and other sporting events.

It is widely thought that Rose's singing career didn't give him time to get enough preparation training in, which is why he lost bouts against so many unknown fighters (after his loss to Ruben Olivares).

Rose sang "Jackson Track" and "I Thank You", in both the SBS documentary and accompanying CD, Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music.

Studio albums Title Album details I Thank You Released: 1970 Format: LP Label: Festival Records (SFL-933741) Jackson's Track Released: 1971 Format: LP Label: Festival Records (SFL-934166)

Singles + List of singles, with Australian chart positions Year Title Peak chartpositions Album AUS 1969 "I Thank You" / "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" 2 I Thank You 1970 "Please Remember Me" / "Good Old Country Song" 40 1970 "Little Ole You" / "Guitar Pickin' Boy" -

Retirement

In retirement, Rose became a successful businessman, and he enjoyed the monetary benefits his career brought him. Rose was showcased in 2002 in The Ring section 'Where are they now?'.

In 2007, Rose suffered a stroke that left him with speech and movement difficulties.

Rose died on 8 May 2011 after an illness which lasted for several months.Australian boxing great Lionel Rose dies aged 62, Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2011.

Awards Rose was featured in Australian author: Wendy Lewis's book of "Australia's Greatest People" in 2010.

In 1968, Lionel Rose became the first Aboriginal Australian of the YearChronology . Australia Day. Retrieved on 24 July 2015. and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Birthday Honours List for services to sport.Australia list:

In 1969, Lionel Rose was granted the "Key to the City of Gold Coast", only the second recipient of the city's highest honor.

In the 1960s, he won the Australian Amateur Flyweight title.

In 2003, he was an inaugural inductee in the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame.

In 2005, he was featured on a stamp (part of the 2005 edition).

In 2005, Rose was also awarded the E9 title of 'King of the Ring'.

In 2011, he was inducted to the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll.

TV and film His life inspired the TV serial The Battlers (1968) about an Aboriginal boxer, played by Vincent Gill in blackface.

The TV miniseries Rose Against the Odds was produced in 1991 – a period drama of Rose's life story starring Paul Williams and Telly Savalas. It was released as a feature film in 1995.

In 2008, after nearly three years of conducting interviews with Rose, his family and friends, Melbourne filmmaker Eddie Martin premiered his feature-length documentary Lionel at the Melbourne International Film Festival.Lionel (2008). IMDb After a brief theatrical run, a shorter version of the film premiered on SBS television on 28 November 2008.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes53 Loss42–11Maurice ApeangKO2 (10)18 Dec 197652 Loss42–10Rafael LimonTKO3 (10)28 Aug 197651 Win42–9Giuseppe AgateTKO3 (10)13 Nov 197550 Loss41–9Billy MoellerPTS108 Oct 197549 Loss41–8 Blakeney Kid MatthewsMD1029 Aug 197548 Win41–7Bomber UchidaPTS1030 Jun 197547 Loss40–7Yoshiaki NumataUD1530 May 197146 Win40–6 Tanny CuaresmaKO1 (10)4 May 197145 Loss39–6Jeff WhiteUD1512 Feb 1971 44Win39–5Guts IshimatsuUD1010 Oct 197043Win38–5 Richard Kid BoriasKO3 (10)4 Aug 1970 42Win37–5Freddie WicksPTS1014 Jul 197041Loss36–5Raul CruzUD1016 May 197040 Win36–4 Don JohnsonUD107 Mar 197039 Loss35–4Fernando SoteloKO7 (12)7 Dec 196938 Win35–3Vincente GarciaKO5 (10)1 Nov 1969 37 Loss34–3 Rubén OlivaresKO5 (15)22 Aug 1969 36 Win34–2Ernie CruzMD1010 Jun 1969 35 Win33–2Alan RudkinSD158 Mar 1969 34 Win32–2Chucho CastilloSD156 Dec 1968 33 Win31–2José MedelMD1028 Aug 1968 32 Win30–2Takao SakuraiMD152 Jun 196831 Win29–2Tommaso GalliPTS1026 Apr 196830 Win28–2Fighting HaradaUD1527 Feb 1968 29 Win27–2Rocky GattellariKO13 (15)11 Dec 196728 Win26–2Gary GarberPTS1020 Nov 1967 27 Win25–2Kamara DiopTKO3 (10)13 Oct 196726 Win24–2Ronnie JonesPTS101 Sep 196725 Win23–2 Tiny PalacioPTS1028 Jul 1967 24 Win22–2Rudy CoronaPTS109 Jun 196723 Win21–2Akihide TamaokaKO6 (10)11 May 196722 Win20–2Nevio CarbiPTS1017 Mar 1967 21 Win19–2Felipe GonzalezPTS1018 Nov 196620 Win18–2Noel KundePTS1528 Oct 196619 Win17–2 Jackie BurkeTKO6 (12)14 Oct 196618 Win16–2 Noel KundePTS1226 Aug 196617 Win15–2 Ray PerezPTS128 Jul 196616 Win14–2Flash DumdumPTS1217 Jun 196615 Win13–2 Jerry StokesPTS1213 May 1966 14 Loss12–2Ray PerezUD104 Apr 196613 Win12–1Ray PerezUD1218 Feb 196612 Win11–1Arthur ClarkeUD82 Dec 196511 Win10–1Billy BrownUD125 Nov 196510 Win9–1 Laurie NyUD1014 Oct 1965 9 Win8–1Billy BrownTKO10 (12)1 Oct 19658 Win7–1 Bobby WellsTKO8 (12)20 Aug 1965 7 Win6–1Teddy RainbowPTS1227 Jul 19656 Loss5–1Singtong Por TorPTS623 Jul 1965 5 Win5–0Singtong Por TorPTS1225 Jun 19654 Win4–0Jackie BruceTKO1 (12)2 Apr 1965 3 Win3–0Joe OliveriTKO2 (6)6 Nov 1964 2 Win2–0Mario MagrisPTS89 Oct 1964 1 Win1–0Mario MagrisPTS89 Sep 1964

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA bantamweight champion (118 lbs) WBC bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed bantamweight champion

See also List of bantamweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions List of The Ring world champions List of undisputed boxing champions

References

Lionel Rose

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