Aboriginal trailblazer Rose dies

MELBOURNE, Australia — Lionel Rose, the first Australian aboriginal boxer to win a world title, died Sunday at the age of 62, his family said.

Rose, who beat Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo in 1968 to win the world bantamweight title, had been ill for several months. He suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralyzed.

He finished his career with 42 wins, 12 by knockout, in 53 fights.

He was named Australian of the year after his world title win, the first Aborigine to receive the honor. He also was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the same year.

When he returned to Melbourne from Tokyo after beating Harada, an estimated quarter of a million people lined the city's streets to cheer him.

World Boxing Council official Frank Quill said Rose was one of the first sportsmen in the world to speak out against the apartheid regime in South Africa, refusing a lucrative offer to fight in South Africa in 1970.

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