Lionel Rose
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Transcript of Lionel Rose
6th May 2012Authored by:
The First-Ever Aboriginal World Champion
LIONEL ROSE
1
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.
3
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
4
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
5
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.
6
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
7
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.
8
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
9
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.
10
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
11
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.
12
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
13
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
14
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.