Lionel Rose


Lionel Edmund Rose MBE was an Australian bantamweight boxer, 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.
Later, at the age of 10, Rose was given a pair of gloves by his teacher, Ian Hawkins. Aged about 15, he went under the tutelage of Frank Oakes, a Warragul trainer. He won the Australian amateur flyweight title at 15. He was the godfather to model and actress Ruby Rose.

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 Magriss 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 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. 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 100,000. 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. The song "I Thank You" was a top 5 nationwide hit, produced and written by Johnny Young and engineered by John L Sayers; it was played as a substitute to the Australian National Anthem during radio broadcasts of the State of Origin series, and other sporting events by the comedic sports commentators, Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson.
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.
Rose sang "Jackson Track" and "I Thank You", in both the SBS documentary and accompanying CD,.

Discography

;Albums
Jackson's Track - Festival SFL-934166
;Singles
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.

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 Year and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
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 1970 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.
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 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. After a brief theatrical run, a shorter version of the film premiered on SBS television on 28 November 2008.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
53 Loss42–11 Maurice ApeangKO2 Dec 18, 1976 Une Grande Soiree Stadium, Noumea
52 Loss42–10 Rafael LimonTKO3 Aug 28, 1976 Forum, Inglewood
51 Win42–9 Giuseppe AgateTKO3 Nov 13, 1975 Olympic Swimming Stadium, Melbourne
50 Loss41–9 Billy MoellerPTS10Oct 08, 1975 Marrickville RSL Club, Sydney
49 Loss41–8 Blakeney Kid MatthewsMD10Aug 29, 1975 Melbourne Olympic Pool, Melbourne
48 Win41–7 Bomber UchidaPTS10Jun 30, 1975 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
47 Loss40–7 Yoshiaki NumataUD15May 30, 1971 Prefectural Gymnasium, Hiroshima
46 Win40–6 Tanny CuaresmaKO1 May 04, 1971 Channel 10 Studios, Melbourne
45 Loss39–6 Jeff WhiteUD15Feb 12, 1971 Milton Tennis Courts, Brisbane
44 Win39–5 Guts IshimatsuUD10Oct 10, 1970 Palais Theatre,Saint Kilda, Melbourne
43 Win38–5 Richard Kid BoriasKO3 Aug 04, 1970 San Remo Ballroom, Melbourne
42 Win37–5 Freddie WicksPTS10Jul 14, 1970 Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club, Sydney
41 Loss36–5 Raul CruzUD10May 16, 1970 Forum, Inglewood
40 Win36–4 Don JohnsonUD10Mar 07, 1970 White City Tennis Courts, Sydney
39 Loss35–4 Fernando SoteloKO7 Dec 07, 1969 White City Tennis Courts, Sydney
38 Win35–3 Vincente GarciaKO5 Nov 01, 1969 Melbourne Olympic Velodrome, Melbourne
37 Loss34–3 Rubén OlivaresKO5 Aug 22, 1969 Forum, Inglewood
36 Win34–2 Ernie CruzMD10Jun 10, 1969 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu
35 Win33–2 Alan RudkinSD15Mar 08, 1969 Kooyong Tennis Stadium, Melbourne
34 Win32–2 Chucho CastilloSD15Dec 06, 1968 Forum, Inglewood
33 Win31–2 José MedelMD10Aug 28, 1968 Forum, Inglewood
32 Win30–2 Takao SakuraiMD15Jun 02, 1968 Nippon Budokan
31 Win29–2 Tommaso GalliPTS10Apr 26, 1968 Festival Hall, Melbourne
30 Win28–2 Fighting HaradaUD15Feb 27, 1968 Nippon Budokan
29 Win27–2 Rocky GattellariKO13 Dec 11, 1967 Sydney Stadium, Sydney
28 Win26–2 Gary GarberPTS10Nov 20, 1967 Sydney Stadium, Sydney
27 Win25–2 Kamara DiopTKO3 Oct 13, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
26 Win24–2 Ronnie JonesPTS10Sep 01, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
25 Win23–2 Tiny PalacioPTS10Jul 28, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
24 Win22–2 Rudy CoronaPTS10Jun 09, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
23 Win21–2 Akihide TamaokaKO6 May 11, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
22 Win20–2 Nevio CarbiPTS10Mar 17, 1967 Festival Hall, Melbourne
21 Win19–2 Felipe GonzalezPTS10Nov 18, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
20 Win18–2 Noel KundePTS15Oct 28, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
19 Win17–2 Jackie BurkeTKO6 Oct 14, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
18 Win16–2 Noel KundePTS12Aug 26, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
17 Win15–2 Ray PerezPTS12Jul 08, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
16 Win14–2 Flash DumdumPTS12Jun 17, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
15 Win13–2 Jerry StokesPTS12May 13, 1966 Festival Hall, Melbourne
14 Loss12–2 Ray PerezUD10Apr 04, 1966 Sydney Stadium, Sydney
13 Win12–1 Ray PerezUD12Feb 18, 1966 Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
12 Win11–1 Arthur ClarkeUD8Dec 02, 1965 Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney
11 Win10–1 Billy BrownUD12Nov 05, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
10 Win9–1 Laurie NyUD10Oct 14, 1965 Christchurch, Canterbury
9 Win8–1 Billy BrownTKO10 Oct 01, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
8 Win7–1 Bobby WellsTKO8 Aug 20, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
7 Win6–1 Teddy RainbowPTS12Jul 27, 1965 Saint George Rugby League Club, Sydney
6 Loss5–1 Singtong Por TorPTS6Jul 23, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
5 Win5–0 Singtong Por TorPTS12Jun 25, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
4 Win4–0 Jackie BruceTKO1 Apr 02, 1965 Festival Hall, Melbourne
3 Win3–0 Joe OliveriTKO2 Nov 06, 1964 Festival Hall, Melbourne
2 Win2–0 Mario MagrisPTS8Oct 09, 1964 Festival Hall, Melbourne
1 Win1–0 Mario MagrisPTS8Sep 09, 1964 Warragul