Lionel Rose: Harada, Australian of the Year and 42 wins from 53 fights | Ultimate Boxing Reunion

Why fans still care

LIONEL ROSE was 19 when he won the world bantamweight title in Tokyo. He was the first Aboriginal person to win a world title in any sport, and only the second Australian to win a world boxing title, after Jimmy Carruthers in 1952.

Back home, a crowd of more than 100,000 by most counts turned out to welcome him in Melbourne, and by the end of the year he was Australian of the Year.

Early life

Lionel Edmund Rose was born on 21 June 1948 at Jackson’s Track, near Warragul. His father was Gunditjmara and a tent-show boxer, and Lionel was the eldest of nine children. The family lived in a one-room tin hut until he was ten, when they moved to Drouin with help from the Aboriginal Welfare Board. His first job was at a sawmill, and later he worked as a welder in Drouin.

His idol was the Aboriginal lightweight champion George Bracken. In 1963 he won the Australian amateur flyweight title at 15. He won his first major fight at Melbourne’s Festival Hall the day after his father died. In 1964 he was runner-up to Bill Booth at bantamweight, which cost him a place at the Tokyo Olympics.

The early fights

Frank Oakes of Warragul trained him from about the age of 15, set up a gym for him and introduced him to Jack Rennie in Melbourne. Rennie became his trainer and manager, and from 1964 Rose lived with Rennie, his wife Shirley and their sons Mark and John. He trained in the backyard gym at Marco Polo Street, Essendon. Shirley Rennie negotiated his endorsements and tutored him.

He made his professional debut on 9 September 1964 in Warragul, against Magris. He won the Australian bantamweight title in October 1966, and he was Australian champion when the 1967 referendum was held. On 11 December 1967 he knocked out Gattellari in round 13 at Sydney Stadium to keep the Australian title.

Career chapters

1. 1963Wins the Australian amateur flyweight title at 15
2. 1964Turns professional and moves in with Jack Rennie’s family
3. 1966Wins the Australian bantamweight title
4. 1968Beats Fighting Harada in Tokyo to win the world bantamweight title, then beats Takao Sakurai and Chucho Castillo
5. 1968Named Australian of the Year and appointed MBE
6. 1969Beats Alan Rudkin in March, then loses the title to Ruben Olivares in August
7. 1971Loses to Yoshiaki Numata in Hiroshima and retires
8. 1975Comes back with a points win over Uchida in Kuala Lumpur
9. 1976Stopped by Rafael Limon in August and by Maurice Apeang in December, his last fight

Fighting Harada 27 February 1968

On Tuesday 27 February 1968 he fought Masahiko “Fighting” Harada at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, for the world bantamweight title. The Sydney Morning Herald report of the fight is datelined “Tokyo, Tuesday”. The No. 1 contender, Pimentel, had demanded a bigger share of the purse, and Rose took the fight as a substitute. He was 19.

Rose trained in a snow-covered hotel garden in Tokyo and smoked a pipe while he did it. After round 3 he told Rennie that Harada could not hit hard enough to hurt him. He fought with a bruised right knuckle, and Rennie said the referee kept telling Rose to fight more because he was fighting on the retreat. The Herald said that in round 9 it appeared more as though Harada had slipped, but the referee counted. The cards were Toyama 72 to 71, Tezaki 72 to 69 and Morita 70 to 70, which would make it a majority decision on the Herald’s figures. Later accounts, including the ABC, call it unanimous, so the sources differ. It was also the first time an all-Japanese set of officials had controlled a world title fight.

When the decision was read, Rennie and Rose fell to the canvas in the ring. Fans had flown to Tokyo on special flights to be there. Rose said afterwards, “I’m the happiest person in the world at the moment.”

The homecoming

Rose came home to a ticker-tape parade in Melbourne. The ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald put the crowd at more than 100,000 outside the Melbourne Town Hall, and other accounts say 250,000. Traffic stopped in Swanston Street. Rose later said he asked the air hostess whether the Beatles were up the front of the plane, and on the Town Hall balcony he said, “I didn’t think so many people cared.”

Takao Sakurai 2 July 1968

He made his first defence on 2 July 1968 at the Budokan, against Takao Sakurai, an Olympic champion. Sakurai dropped him early, and Rose won a 15 round decision.

Chucho Castillo 6 December 1968

On 6 December 1968 he defended against Chucho Castillo at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Rose was down in round 10 and won a narrow split decision. A riot broke out afterwards. Earlier in 1968 Rennie had watched Castillo from ringside and rated him the best bantamweight he had seen, outside of Rose.

Alan Rudkin March 1969

In March 1969 he beat Alan Rudkin over 15 rounds at Kooyong in Melbourne. It was his third defence of the title.

Ruben Olivares 22 August 1969

On 22 August 1969 he lost the title to Ruben Olivares at the Forum in Inglewood, knocked out in round 5. His purse was $100,000.

Numata, the comeback and the end 1971 to 1976

By then he had filled out and was fighting as a lightweight. He fought Jeff White for the Australian title in Brisbane, then lost a controversial points decision to Yoshiaki Numata in Hiroshima for the world junior lightweight title. He retired in 1971. He came back on 1 July 1975 with a points win over Uchida in Kuala Lumpur, then lost to Rafael Limon in Inglewood on 28 August 1976 and was stopped in round 2 by Maurice Apeang in Noumea on 17 December 1976. He retired for good after that.

Style, technique and the corner

How he fought

The Sport Australia Hall of Fame calls him a sharp left hand, fine counter-puncher. The Fight Site says he was “arguably the best jabber in the history of the division” and had a “sneaky right hand counter”. The Herald reported that the referee told him to fight more because he was boxing on the retreat. He smoked a pipe while training in Japan.

Training

Frank Oakes trained him in Warragul and introduced him to Jack Rennie. Rennie trained and managed him from Melbourne, and he lived with the Rennies from 1964. Rose married Jenny Oakes, Frank’s daughter, in 1970, and they had a son, Michael.

The corner

Jack Rennie handled his fights and his business, and Shirley Rennie negotiated his endorsements and tutored him at home.

Stories people still tell

1. Elvis.

   In December 1968 he met Elvis Presley at MGM Studios, after fighting in California. Rose said, “I was in awe of him, but he said he was in awe of me.”

2. A speech.

   When he accepted his Australian of the Year award he said, “One hundred and eighty-two years ago one of my mob would have been a dead cert for this.”

3. South Africa.

   He declined a fight in South Africa in 1970. Frank Quill of the WBC ratings committee said that, to his knowledge, Rose was the first sportsman to refuse to go there because of apartheid.

Legacy

He won 42 of 53 fights, 12 by knockout, and held the world bantamweight title from February 1968 to August 1969. He was named Australian of the Year and appointed MBE in 1968. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on 10 December 1985, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll in 2011. A stamp carrying his gloves was issued, and he was a patron of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service. He also recorded two hit singles, “I Thank You” and “Please Remember Me”, and “I Thank You” reached No. 2 on the Kent Music Report.

Lionel Rose died on 8 May 2011 at his home in Warragul, aged 62.