Lionel Rose

Lionel Rose married his childhood darling Jennifer, daughter of his first coach Frank Oakes, at Mernda in December 1970. The couple’s son, Michael, was born in 1974.

In 2007, he suffered a stroke that impaired his speech and movement. He died on 8 May 2011 after suffering from prolonged illness.

Lionel Rose was born on 21 June 1948, in Victoria, Australia. His father, Roy, was a skilful fighter and his mother’s name was Regina. His was a big family and he had several siblings. The family used to reside in a single room tin cabin in Jackson Track.

At the age of eight, he was registered at the Labertouche State School. The school was three miles away from his home, leading to irregular attendance.

When he turned 10, the Aboriginal Welfare Board helped the family shift into a double roomed house in Drouin, hoping that the children would attend school more regularly. Nevertheless, Rose was a rebellious child and disliked the stringent rules and the crowded bus. He left school at the age of 14.

He learnt boxing from his father at an early age. Soon, he was gifted a pair of gloves by his teacher, Ian Hawkins, who noticed his skills.

He travelled to Melbourne for the first time in 1958. The trip was sponsored by Save the Children. Later in Melbourne, he met Graham Walsh and watched his first professional fight.

Lionel Rose began his career by working at a saw mill near Drouin. The job lasted for nine months only as he did not like the role. Following his father’s death, he had to consider employment more seriously. However, he failed to keep any job for long because of his poor work ethics.

After failing to qualify for the 1964 Olympic selections, he embarked on his professional boxing career in Warragul. He was 16 years old and defeated Mario Magriss over eight rounds.

After Warragul, most of his fights were held in Melbourne. There he stayed with his first professional trainer, Jack and his wife Shirley Rennie. He would train regularly in their backyard gym.

He won five fights in a row, before being re-matched with Singtong Por Tor in July 1965 whom he had earlier defeated in a 12-round decision. Por Tor defeated Rose in six rounds; it was Rose’s first defeat. Later that year, he fought his first international fight at Christchurch, New Zealand. He defeated Laurie Ny by a decision in 10 rounds.

In the following nine matches, he won eight and lost one. The single loss was to Ray Perez. In October 1966, he defeated Noel Kunde in a 15-round decision for the Australian bantamweight title at Melbourne.

As a professional boxer, he recorded 42 wins and 11 losses, with 12 wins by knockout.

In 1968, he became the first Indigenous Australian to win the world bantamweight boxing championship.

In 2003, he was inducted into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame. Two years later, he was featured on a stamp (2005 edition) and was awarded the title of ‘King of the Ring’.

In 2010, he was featured in Wendy Lewis's book ‘Australia's Greatest People’.