Lionel Rose
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A statue of Rose in Warragul
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Real name
| Lionel Edmund Rose
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Nickname(s)
| "Slim"
[1]
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Rated at
| Bantamweight
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Nationality
| Australian
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Born
| (
1948-06-21
)
21 June 1948
Jacksons Track,
Victoria
, Australia
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Died
| 8 May 2011
(2011-05-08)
(aged 62)
Warragul
, Victoria, Australia
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Stance
| Orthodox
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Total fights
| 53
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Wins
| 42
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Wins by KO
| 12
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Losses
| 11
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Draws
| 0
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No contests
| 0
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Lionel Edmund Rose
MBE
(21 June 1948 ? 8 May 2011) was an Australian
boxer
. He was the first
indigenous Australian
to win a world title. Rose was ranked as a
bantamweight
boxer. This is a class for boxers who weigh between 115 and 118 pounds (52 and 54 kg).
Rose was born and raised in
Victoria
. He was born at Jacksons Track, and lived in the town of
Warragul
. Rose had a difficult childhood. He learned to box from his father, Roy. Roy was a skilled fighter who competed in local house shows. At the age of 10, Rose was given a pair of gloves by his teacher, Ian Hawkins. When he was about 15, he began to be taught by Frank Oakes, a trainer in Warragul. Rose later married Frank's daughter, Jenny Oakes.
[2]
In 1970, at the age of 15, Rose won the Australian
amateur
flyweight
title.
Rose competed in his first professional boxing match on 9 September 1964. He won against
Mario Magriss
over eight rounds. This fight was in Warragul, but most of Rose's fights were held in
Melbourne
. Along the way he was helped by Jack and Shirley Rennie. He stayed in their home in Melbourne, training each day in their
backyard
.
Rose won his first five matches. After this, he was
rematched
with
Singtong Por Tor
, whom he had previously beaten in a 12-round decision. They fought this rematch on 23 July 1965. Por Tor won in six rounds by earning more points than Rose. This was Rose's first defeat. On 14 October 1965, he had his first fight outside Australia. He fought
Laurie Ny
in
Christchurch
, New Zealand. Rose beat Ny in 10 rounds.
Of his next nine fights, Rose won eight. He scored one
knockout
. The one match he lost in those nine fights was to
Ray Perez
. On 28 October 1966, he fought for the Australian
bantamweight
title against
Noel Kunde
in Melbourne. He won the title by defeating Kunde in a 15-round decision. By winning in this match, Rose became the Australian bantamweight
champion
.
Rose won one more belt in 1966 and eight in 1967. He defended his Australian championship against
Rocky Gattellari
, winning by knockout in the 13th round of the match. After this, Rose challenged
Fighting Harada
for the world bantamweight championship on 26 February 1968 in
Tokyo
. He beat Harada in a 15-round decision. This win made him the first
Aboriginal Australian
to be a world-champion boxer.
[3]
It made Rose a national hero in Australia, particularly among Aboriginal Australians. He was awarded
Australian of the Year
for 1968.
On 2 July of that year, Rose returned to Tokyo to defend his title against
Takao Sakurai
. He beat Sakurai with a 15-round decision. On 6 December, he fought against
Chucho Castillo
in
Inglewood, California
. Rose beat Castillo by decision, but the verdicts in favour of him made many in the crowd angry, as they supported Castillo. A
riot
began, the
referee
and 14 fans were injured.
On 8 March 1969, Rose fought against
Alan Rudkin
. Rose won in a 15-round decision, and kept the championship. Five months later, he returned to Inglewood, where he faced
Ruben Olivares
on 22 August. Olivares knocked out Rose in the fifth round, and so Rose lost the world bantamweight title.
Rose continued boxing after his defeat against Olivares. However, after he lost several fights against boxers who were not very well known, many believed his career as a prime fighter was over. On 10 October 1970, he beat future world
lightweight
champion
Itshimatsu Suzuki
in a 10-round decision. Once again, he became a world title challenger, but in the lightweight division.
Rose lost to Jeff White for the Australian lightweight championship. He then fought against world junior lightweight champion
Yoshiaki Numata
, on 30 May 1971 in
Hiroshima
. Numata beat Rose by a 15-round decision. Rose announced his
retirement
soon after.
During his break from boxing in the 1970s, Rose begun a modest career as a
singer
. He had a few songs that were successful in Australia, such as "I Thank You" and "Please Remember Me" in 1970. The song "I Thank You" was one of the most successful singles in Australia in 1970. It was played instead of the
Australian National Anthem
during radio broadcasts of the
Rugby League State of Origin
.
Rose came back to boxing in 1975. However, after losing four of his six matches, including one against
Rafael Limon
, he decided to retire forever. As a professional boxer, Rose had a record of 42 wins and 11 losses, with 12 wins by knockout.
After boxing, Rose became a successful
businessman
. A
television
miniseries
called
Rose Against the Odds
(1991) was made about Rose's life story. It starred Paul Williams and Telly Savalas. It was released as a full-length movie in 1995. Melbourne filmmaker Eddie Martin premiered his feature-length
documentary
Lionel
at the
Melbourne International Film Festival
in 2008.
[4]
Rose was one of the original boxers to be inducted into the
Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame
in 2003.
In 2007, Rose suffered a
stroke
. It left him unable to speak and move very well.
[5]
[6]
He died on 8 May 2011, after an illness which lasted for several months.
[7]
[8]
[9]
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