Rose, Lionel

Lionel Rose, (born June 21, 1948, Labertouche, Victoria, Australia—died May 8, 2011, Warragul, Victoria), Australian professional boxer, world bantamweight champion, 1968–69. He was the first Aboriginal person to win a world boxing title.

Rose was age 16 when he made his professional boxing debut, and at age 18 he won the Australian bantamweight title. At age 19 he won the world bantamweight title with a 15-round decision (a fight whose outcome is determined by judges’ scoring) over Masahiko (“Fighting”) Harada of Japan. Rose successfully defended his title three times before being knocked out by Mexican Ruben Olivares in the fifth round on August 22, 1969. Rose then gained a considerable amount of weight and moved up several classes to the lightweight division, but he was unable to emulate his success as a bantamweight and retired in 1976 with a career record of 42 wins (12 by knockout) and 11 losses. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1968, the same year that he became the first Aboriginal person to be named Australian of the Year.