Lionel Rose

Australian boxer Lionel Rose embracing the gloves he wore while winning the world bantamweight …
Bettmann/Corbis

Australian professional boxer, world bantamweight (118 pounds) champion, 1968–69. He was the first Aborigine to win a world boxing title.

Rose was age 16 when he made his professional boxing debut, and at age 18 he won the Australian bantamweight title. At age 19 he won the world bantamweight title with a 15-round decision (a fight whose outcome is determined by judges' scoring) over Masahiko (“Fighting”) Harada of Japan. Rose successfully defended his title three times before being knocked out by Mexican Ruben Olivares in the fifth round on Aug. 22, 1969. Rose then gained a considerable amount of weight and moved up several classes to the lightweight (135 pounds) division, but he was unable to emulate his success as a bantamweight and retired in 1976.

Kathy Bedford caught up with Lionel Rose for this week's Personality Profile. He tells Kathy about life 25 years after conquering the boxing ring; now he fights for a little peace and quiet.

The residents of this quiet Warragul street could easily mistake Lionel for a regular, run of the mill neighbour. But with several boxing titles under his belt, the first Indigenous Australian to win a world boxing title, the first Indigenous Australian to be awarded Australian of the Year, top that off with a number one single; many would say Lionel Rose was the face of Australia in the 1960s.

Lionel grew up in an Aboriginal settlement called Jackson's Track near the Gippsland town of Drouin in the 1940s. Born into a large family with tight budgets Lionel was forced to bring in money to support his eight younger brothers and sisters.

He instantly looked to his father, a professional boxer in the travelling tent-show circuit. Tragically Lionel's father and greatest boxing mentor died when he was 14 before he could see his son fight professionally.

I went from nothing to something, you know what I mean…in an instant...I got the shock of my life

“He saw one amateur fight and I won that." Lionel says. "Of course he was over the moon about that. He used to talk all the time about the boxing he showed me the real fundamentals of it. So by the time I got to the gym I trained under another fella named Frank Oakes; actually ended up marrying his daughter too.”

Lionel's path to glory was not as straight forward. A young country boy taken swiftly to the bright lights of Melbourne. From small-time bouts to a chance at the big time.

“I went from nothing to something, you know what I mean…in an instant. When we got back to Melbourne so many people lined the streets to welcome you home at the town hall. And that’s a memory that will never disappear from my mind. I got the shock of my life anyway. Especially because there were only 10 to see us off when we went over there to fight for the title.”

But Melbourne was never the place for Lionel. After eight US fights and international stardom, it often took a quiet word from trainer, Frank Oates, to keep him in town.

“ I wanted to go home after a fortnight, I couldn’t hack the noise it was all that." Lionel says. "You know the city and the country it’s all differences you know. I was 16 or 17 and I couldn’t be doing the things that other 16 year olds do today."

I ended up cutting the song at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne and blow me down it became number one within a fortnight. And it stayed at number one for 32 weeks

"I had to be up at 6 o’clock running, I had to go to work during the day and then come home and train and then into bed again, I did that for six years… But it made a name for me and I’ve met some terrific people in my travels.”

One adventure took him to the US where the fresh faced boxing legend came face-to-face with rock n' roll legend Elvis Priestly during his filming of Roustabout.

“That was in Los Angeles, we went out to MGM studios with him for about three hours. I was in awe of him anyway. We were the first allowed on his set in 10 years.”

But singing was to be Lionel's triumph too. Who would have thought the poor boy from Jackson’s track could progress from the musical domain of his lounge room to the heights of the Australian musical charts with the song 'Pick me up on your way down'.

“I did a show on Channel Seven called Sunny Side Up and sung a song called Pick me up on your way down." Lionel says. "Anyhow, Johnny Young came around to the gym and look he said ‘I’ve got a song here, I’d like to record if you want to do it?’ I said ‘Nah I’m not into that I only sing in the bathroom or in the lounge room with the brothers and sisters’."

"But he persevered and I ended up cutting the song at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne and blow me down it became number one within a fortnight. And it stayed at number one for 32 weeks that song."

“My father used to write songs and play guitar too… I still perform whenever I get the chance, I do it with my family, my sisters and brothers, they all play instruments.”

But now, 25 years after he stepped out of the ring for the last time he has finally got his wish and returned to his roots in Gippsland. He's survived a decade of alcoholism and court appearances for dangerous driving; but Lionel was always one to win a fight.

“Well I’m doing good at the moment, thank you very much. It’s all clear ahead so I’m just enjoying life at the moment.”

“My mum only lives 5 mile away in Drouin so I’m back with my family, and I really am enjoying life immensely at the moment. I’ve got a hell of a lot of friends here, so there’s no shortage of that you know.”

“I’ve got find memories of growing up here. They were probably the best times in my life. But life wasn’t too hard, we lived in a community, there were uncles and aunties living next door and down the road a bit so it was a family thing.”

“If you go down the track a bit and you look back, you realise that the days at Jacksons track were black tea and damper days but the fond memories I have of it are incredible.”

Lionel Edward Rose, MBE born June 21, 1948 is an Australian bantamweight boxer, now retired, who became the first Aboriginal in boxing history to win a world title.

Born and raised at Jackson's Track near the Victorian town of Warragul, Rose grew up in hardship, learning to box from his father, Roy, a useful fighter on the tent-show circuit. According to the boxing historian Grantlee Kieza, Rose "sparred with rags on his hands in a ring made from fencing wire stretched between trees".

At the age of 10, Rose struck up a friendship with a press photographer, Graham Walsh, who encouraged him and bought him his first pair of gloves. Aged about 15, he came under the tutelage of Frank Oates, a Warragul trainer (whose daughter Jenny he later married). He won the Australian amateur flyweight title at age 15.

Rose began his professional boxing career on September 9 1964, outpointing Mario Magriss over eight rounds. This fight was in Warragul, but the majority of Rose's fights were to be 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 July 23, 1965, he was rematched with Singtong Por Tor, whom Rose had beaten in a 12-round decision. Por Tor inflicted Rose's first defeat, beating him on points in six rounds. On October 14 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, he 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, on October 28, 1966, Rose met Noel Kunde at Melbourne, for the Australian bantamweight title. Rose won the title by defeating Kunde in a fifteen round decision.

He won one more bout in 1966, and eight in 1967 (including a thirteenth round knockout win against Rocky Gattelari to defend his Australian championship) before challenging Fighting Harada for the world's bantamweight title on February 26 of 1968, in Tokyo. Rose made history by becoming the first Aborigine 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 Aborigines. A public reception at Melbourne Town Hall was witnessed by a crowd of more than 100,000. On July 2 of that year, he returned to Tokyo to retain his title with a 15 round decision win over Takao Sakurai. Then, on December 6, 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.

Rose was Australian of the Year in 1968, the first Aborigine to be awarded the honour.

On March 8, 1969 Rose retained the title with a 15-round decision over Alan Rudkin, but five months later he returned to Inglewood, where he faced Ruben Olivares on August 22. 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 October 10 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 May 30, 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 Limon, 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.

In Lionel's retirement, he had legal problems (including a conviction for burglary) but was also a successful businessman. Lionel Rose was able to manage his money and make good financial decisions, and he has enjoyed the monetary benefits his career brought him. Lionel was showcased in 2002 in the Ring Magazine section Where are they now?.

During his off time from boxing in the 1970s, Rose embarked on a successful singing career in Australia having hits with I Thank You and Please Remember Me in 1970.

In 1996, Rose presented young burns-attack victim Tjandamurra O'Shane with his world-title belt, hoping to speed the youngster's recovery. O'Shane, also an Aborigine, had been the victim of a racially charged attack in Cairns the previous year.

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