Lionel Rose

I've seen the Harada fight myself and I think it was Lionel's greatest night. Like you say he boxed perfectly against the swarmer that was Harada.
I think one of the reasons all his defences were close was because he fought top contenders all through his reign. Castillo, Sakaurai, my dad and Olivares were all top 4 contenders which is something that doesn't happen too much now. These fights would usually be unification bouts nowadays.
Another thing is that he was a big bantam and a young lad that was growing, he probably should of moved up earlier but it was a direct jump up to feather, no super bantam and with the bantam title came the big purses.
My dad was asked after their fight was "Rose the best bantam you ever fought". His response was "I think he was the best feather I ever fought".
I think he was a great fighter but he shone brightly for a short time. At 22, 23 he was really a shell of himself but he still managed to put in good fights against Yoshiaki Numata for the Jnr Lightweight title and a win over future Lightweight champ Guts Ishimatsu.
Have you seen any of his other fights?
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My dad's always said to me that he thinks him and Lionel sort of cancelled each other a bit with their respective styles.

 

I think No 1 for my dad would be Olivares, but he also rates Harada highly and has said to me before that he thinks Harada could of given Olivares problems with his style .

 

He looked awesome against Harada. What an amazing talent.

I don't think he ever fought quite to that level again, but still turned in an impressive run of title defenses in his brief tenure as champion.

IMO he should've had more success than he actually did, but I think he stayed at 118 for one fight too long. After losing the title he let his weight balloon all the way up to lightweight, and understandably was never the same fighter.

Consider:
He went to Japan on short notice, to take the title from the ATG Harada. Then he returned to Japan to defend against an unbeaten Olympic gold medalist (and southpaw), then defended against a dangerous top contender on his home turf in California, then defended against a dangerous perennial contender, then went back to California to defend against an unbeaten 50-0 knockout artist - all in the span of about a year! :shock:

As for his "close" fights, he probably would've got UDs in the fights that were abroad, if they had been held anywhere but the opponent's home turf. Even when he beat Harada, the judges only gave him the fight by about a point or two. There was a big riot from the hometown crowd after he got the decision over Chuco Castillo, but IMO he clearly deserved the decision (even Castillo seemed to know he lost). From what I understand, that guy Sakurai just ran away and made the fight a stinker. Against Rudkin, Rose got off to a big early lead, but Rudkin rallied over the second half of the fight to make it close; still, I thought Rose had more rounds that he clearly won than Rudkin did.

I think Rose showed what potential he had when he came back years later, after supposedly being "washed up," and beat Guts Suzuki and gave Numata a tough fight for the jr. lightweight title, basically just fighting on memory. One of the biggest wastes of talent IMO.

 

This can only be an opinion, but i always thought Lionel Rose was maybe the most intimidating bantamweight of alltime, like a Tommy Hearns at light-middle maybe, just in a looking across the ring at him sense i mean.

He had an absolutely great left hand and what a boxer at range. When i watched Harada-Rudkin, then Rose-Rudkin, i put the fact that Rudkin boxed well against Harada and the fact that at distance Rose was good against Rudkin together and thought that must be how Rose beat Harada.

 

Great fighter Rose - and a good thread guys.

Rose certainly always struggled to make weight - heard his trainer Jack Rennie only recently joking in an interview about the lengths they went to getting the lbs off Lionel - they prefered to have him campaining at bantam though because he was so strong there.

Not sure exactly how Lionel rated in the intimidation stakes, but Oliveras with a California auditorium full of vocal Mexicans behind him and an amazing KO record, must have rated pretty highly.

Though only about 10 at the time, I do remember Rose v Rudkin in '69 here at our (now old) Kooyong tennis stadium in Melbourne. A good fight, even though one of the judges awarded Rose every round in what was officially an SD result.

 

Although boxing at long range was a part of his game against Harada, one of the biggest keys to his success was that he actually stepped into Harada at times and pounded him in the body. I think he showed something of a blueprint for how to beat Harada: instead of backing up (as most opponents did) from his flurries, he stepped in and smothered his flurries, and hit him back with the harder punches. He never let Harada control the pace and fight the kind of ugly, inside stinker fight that he often liked to.

 

Patto.
Lionel can have verse, after verse, after verse spoken of him, and it intertwines beautifully with a fantastic mix.

Rose, Harada, Castillo, Rudkin, Olivares, Sakurai...., along with others all in no particular order, made up a GENERATION of greats, for great reasons and with great respect that endures for 'the right reasons' today.

I dont know what this 'AlFrancis' bloke is talking about? He sounds like a wanker.. lol

When it comes to it, a fantstic era of Bantams, on par with mix ups of Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton transpired at this lower weight in the late 60's, early 70's.

The best outcome from these classic battles, is the genuine respects for fighter from fighter, and familily from family.

 

Wondered when you'd show up.:good

 

LOL... Hope ya doin well mate. :good:good

My wallet is the size of a jockey after the hatton fight mate... "... a bit short".