6th May 2012Authored by:

The First-Ever Aboriginal World Champion

LIONEL ROSE

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Table of Contents

LIONEL ROSE.......................................................................................................3BORN IN HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.................................................................................3CAREER..............................................................................................................3

CHAMPION BOXER..............................................................................................4RECORDING ARTIST............................................................................................6AWARDS AND ACHIEVMENTS................................................................................7INSPIRED ABORIGINALS AND OTHERS.....................................................................8

REMAINED AN AUSTRALIAN HERO DESPITE HARD TIMES................................................9REMAINED A HERO.............................................................................................9ILLNESS...........................................................................................................9

STATE FUNERAL.................................................................................................10CONCLUSION......................................................................................................11RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................12

RESEARCH TIMELINE........................................................................................12RESEARCH TOOLS...........................................................................................12METHOD USED................................................................................................12PRESENTATION PRODUCTION..............................................................................13

REFERENCES.....................................................................................................14

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Introduction

Lionel Rose was an inspiration to his people and the following

will show, how he came from a very humble beginning, at a

time when racism was high, to become the first Aboriginal to

win a World Title Champion. With his love of boxing, Rose

received awards and achievements, throughout his sporting

career. His other love, music, lead to Rose’s music career with

the release of several records. His recent passing was a great

loss, Lionel Rose, was a gentle man, with a big heart and an

amazing soul.

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Lionel Rose

Born In Humble B eginnings

Lionel Rose was born on the 21st June 1948, and raised in

Jackson's Track, a poor aboriginal settlement, near the

Victorian town of Warragul, south of Melbourne. The oldest

of nine children in an aboriginal family, Rose was on the

wrong side of a society divided by racism, mistrust, and

economic disparity. Since 1770, when white settlers first

arrived in Australia, the Aboriginals have suffered a fate

similar to that of Native Americans in the United States.

Young Rose

By the early 1900s, entire aboriginal communities had

disappeared. Up until the 1970s, the Australian government

imposed a program of social adaptation and assimilation

that consisted in removing aboriginal children from their

families and rearing them in state-run missions or

settlements. Though, Australian policy has since adopted

Aboriginal rights legislation and Aboriginals have officially

gained equal status as Australian citizens, racism has

continued.

As a child, Rose escaped such racism through boxing.

Rose's father, was an amateur boxer, his father inspired

Rose to don his first pair of boxing gloves at the age of 14.

They trained in a ring made of chicken wire. Rose and his

siblings also became avid fans of tent matches, popular

boxing bouts that traveled the country much the way a

carnival would.

Young boxing Rose

Career

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Considering his humble beginnings Lionel Rose’s achievements and career was astonishing.

Rose began his amateur boxing career under the guidance of trainer Frank Oakes. He later

married Oakes's daughter Jenny and they had a son.

Champion Boxer

Rose’s won his first major fight at

Melbourne's Festival Hall in 1963

the day after his father died. By the

end of that year, he won Australia's

national amateur flyweight title. In

1964 Rose narrowly missed being

selected for the Australian Olympic

team. Rose knew he wanted to

make a career of boxing and to help

support his family, Rose turned

professional in 1964 under the

legendary Australian trainer Jack

Rennie.

Rose with trophies

After a string of successful fights, Rose won

the Australian bantamweight title in October

1966, he then made Australian sporting

history in 1968 when he became the first

Indigenous boxer to win a world

championship title; he beat Japan's Fighting

Harada in Tokyo at the age of 19 to claim the

world bantamweight title.

Rose claims the world bantamweight title from Harada

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When Rose returned to Australia, he was

greeted by more than 100,000 people

outside the Melbourne Town Hall he had

returned a hero to all the people of Australia.

Five months after defeating Harada, Rose

returned to Tokyo to retain his title with a 15-

round decision win over Takao Sakurai.

Rose defended it again by decision against

Chucho Castillo in Inglewood, California,

later that same year. Even Elvis Presley

requested to meet him while Rose was in

California.

Rose waiving to the people

Elvis Presley became one of

his biggest American fans,

Rose and Rennie were the

only outsiders in 10 years to

be allowed on to the set of a

Presley film, Roustabout, and

spent three hours with the

king of rock'n'roll, who insisted

on a brief spar with the

Aboriginal star.

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Rose sparing with Elvis

In 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 Ruben Olivares and lost the world

bantamweight title via a fifth-round knockout. Rose continued fighting, coming close several

times to another world title before retiring in 1971. He made a brief comeback in 1975 but

retired permanently.

Rose finished his professional

career after 53 fights with 42

wins, 12 of them by knock-out.

He had a few of those losses

near the end of his career when

he was probably fighting for the

love of fighting more so after his

world championship days were

well and truly over. Rose

remains one of only four

Australian-born fighters to win a

world title oversea

The famous hands of Lionel Rose

Recording Artist

Music had been a part of Rose's life for even

longer than boxing. He had learned to play

guitar as a child and was never without one.

In 1969, Rose appeared on a televised

variety show singing along to his guitar.

Australian producer and songwriter Johnny

Young caught Rose's act and offered to pen

a song for the boxer. The result was "Thank

You," Rose's first single. The song reached

the number one spot in Australia's country

charts. Johnny Young and Lionel Rose

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The following year, Rose again made the charts with a cover of the country classic, "Pick Me

up on Your Way Down." Rose began touring as a musician when not boxing, and in 1970

recorded two albums for the Festival label. One of those, Jackson's Track, is considered a

lost classic in Australian country music circles.

Awards And Achievments

Rose ( NITV, 2011) won the Australian Amateur

Flyweight Title in 1963, then the Bantamweight

Title in 1966. In 1968 after his world title win,

Rose was named Australian of the Year for his

achievement; he was the first Aboriginal person

to be awarded the honour, a year after the

referendum, which finally made Aboriginals

citizen of their own country. He was also

appointed Member of the Order of the British

Empire (MBE) in the same year.

Rose King of Boxing

He became the King of Moomba in 1973, and

then in 1994 he was one of only ten

Aboriginal boxers, inducted into the Australian

National Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2000, he had

the honour to carries the Olympic flame at

Drouin, Victoria. Rose was also the Recipient

of the Australian Sports Medal 2001 and the

Centenary Medal in 2003. In 2005, at the 11th

Annual Deadlys he received a Lifetime

Achievement Award in Sport.

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Rose carrying the Olympic flame

Inspired Aboriginals and Others

Many people regarded him as a symbol of

a promising future for Indigenous people in

Australia, including a young Evonne

Goolagong. Rose was Australia's greatest

boxing talent; he is remembered equally by

many for how he helped change racial

attitudes and inspired his people. Rose

refused to get involved in political issues;

instead he helped Aboriginals at a

grassroots level, often with children. He

sent a strong message especially to young

people around the world, to stand up and

fight for their rights, and to aspire to reach

for their dreams. Roses teaching young boys

One example occurred in 1999, when Rose

gave his championship belt to an aboriginal

child, Tjandamurra O’Shane who used the belt

as inspiration to overcome horrific burns he

received after being doused with petrol and set

on fire in a racially-motivated attack,

Tjandamurra grew up, following in Roses

footsteps to become a boxer.

Tjandamurra, (Herald Sun, 2011 ) , now aged

21, plans to return, the gift of Rose’s historic

world title belt, in a final symbol of thanks. "It's

a beautiful gesture, just beautiful," said Rose's

widow, Jenny. "Lionel was a very generous

man ... he'd be extremely grateful

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Tjandamurra, with Rose’s historic world title belt

Remained an Australian Hero Despite Hard Times

Remained a Hero

Over the next few decades, Rose worked odd jobs,

including running a café and performing as a

musician. He soon fell on hard times due to

alcoholism. At his lowest point, he was arrested for

his role in a robbery attempt. Despite these setbacks,

Rose remained a hero for both aboriginal and white

Australians. In 1991, a biography of Rose, called

“Rose Against the Odds” was published. In 1995, a

full-length movie of the same name was released.

Rose Against the Odds Book Cover

Ten years later, Rose was honored with an Australian

stamp bearing a replica of his boxing gloves.

Illness

Rose, who reportedly, long believed he would die

young, battled with his health over the past two

decades, having his first heart attack at age 39. He

suffered a stroke in 2007 that had left him partially

paralysed and with speech difficulties.

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Rose’s Stamp

State Funeral

World boxing champion (Heralds Sun,

2011), LIONEL ROSE, was honoured

with a state funeral on the 16th May 2011,

Rose, aged 62 passed away at his

Warragul home after a long battle with

illness. The Victorian government held the

state funeral for Lionel Rose in recognition

of the boxing legend's 'extraordinary'

contribution to sport, at Festival Hall in

Melbourne.

The World Boxing Council also declared

16th May 2011, a day of mourning in

honour of Rose, describing him as

Australia's greatest boxing hero.

Lionel Rose's coffin at his state funeral at Festival Hall

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Lionel Rose Rest in peace

Conclusion

Lionel Rose was a World Title Boxing Champion in his lifetime and he became a legend in

his passing, especially since he was the first-ever Aboriginal world champion, Rose earned

himself, a place in Australian sporting folklore. He was a gentle man, with a big heart and an

amazing soul. Rose received so many astonishing awards and achievements throughout his

life, starting at such a young age he was an inspiration to his people and will be sadly

missed.

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Research Methodology

Research Timeline

Research Tools

My research on Lionel Rose was carried out by utilizing the following tools: the internet, by

searching websites, online documents, newspapers and reference resources. I then checked

out the library for books and indigenous newspapers.

Method Used

After collecting all my research information and the images of Lionel Rose, I decided to work

out how to outline all my information in an orderly manner, with this in mind I started to

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complete my layout design in Microsoft words. With each heading I used an image which

was relevant to the content of that section of my work.

Presentation Production

I decided I would produce a video for my presentation containing the main points of my

research, with images of Lionel Rose’s in his two careers plus his awards and achievements.

I have used two songs for the background music the first a ballad written for Rose about his

life and the second the song penned by Johnny Young which Rose released as his first

single. I have also incorporated a voice over in certain sections of the vide

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References

National Indigenous Television (NITV). (2011). [Internet]. Available at

<http://nitv.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=764%3Anitv-to-

broadcast-live-lionel-edmund-rose-mbe-state-funeral-from-melbourne&catid=9&Itemid=16>

accessed 15th May 2011.

Herald Sun (2011). [Internet]. Available at <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/burns-

victim-tjandamurra-oshane-to-return-lionel-rosess-title-belt/story-e6frf9if-1226056347716>

accessed 15th May 2011.

Herald Sun (2011). [Internet]. Available at <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-

news/mourners-gather-for-boxer-lionel-rose-funeral/story-e6frf7jx-1226056776778>

accessed 16th May 2011.

All Images. (2011) [Internet]. Available at <http://www.google.com.au/search?

hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=cl0&rlz=1R1MOZA_en-

GB___AU343&biw=1366&bih=543&tbm=isch&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g3&oq=&q=lionel

%20rose> accessed 15th May 2011.