A whole new generation of Australian sports fans are discovering legendary boxer Lionel Rose after the former world champion was featured as a Google Doodle.
Rose is one of the finest fighters Australia has ever produced and his victory over Japan's Fighting Harada in 1968 to claim the bantamweight title made him this country's first Indigenous world champion.
The doodle, created by Sydney artist Mark Munk Ross, commemorates the day Rose was inducted into the Sport Australian Hall of Fame in 1985.
"This topic was meaningful to me personally being a Jardwadjali/Wotjobaluk man, and Lionel being a Gunditjmara man," Ross told Google.
"Both of us belonging to Western Kulin nations means a lot. Lionel is such a trailblazer and role model for many, including myself.
"I felt immense pride [when the doodle was commissioned]. So proud to have the opportunity to pay tribute to a true Australian legend & icon.
"I would like to think that people will see a world champion boxer, a #1 recording artist, and a triumphant advocate for First Nations people of Australia."
Born in abject poverty in Jackson's Track, Victoria, in 1948, Rose was a proud Gunditjmara man who turned professional at the age of 16 in 1964.
He was still only 19 when he travelled to Japan to face Harada, with Rose's lightning-fast hands and skilled counterpunching securing the title via an upset decision victory that remains one of Australian boxing's finest hours.
Over 250,000 people lined the streets of Melbourne to greet Rose on his return. The ever-modest Rose was so surprised by the size of the crowd he asked a flight attendant if the Beatles were in front of the plane.
Overnight, Rose became one of Australia's most prominent sportsmen, and one of the nation's most important Indigenous figures.
He later became the first Indigenous person to be named Australian of the year, a mere 12 months after a referendum passed to include Indigenous Australians as part of the population and was awarded an MBE.
A skilled musician, Rose also released a hit country record after meeting Elvis Presley in the aftermath of his triumph.
Rose defended his title three times before he was knocked out by Ruben Olivares in Los Angeles in 1969.
He never regained the belt and retired in 1976 with a record of 42-11 and passed away in 2011.
Rose remains one of the finest boxers Australia has ever seen and is an icon in the Indigenous community to this day.
