Rose was never in difficulty during the 15-round bout and said he had not been hurt at any stage. . "Don't worry," Rose told manager Rennie at the end of the third round, "he can't hit hard enough to hurt me." Rose finished the fight with a bruised knuckle on his right hand, but facially was unmarked. He hurt his right in the 14th round when he made Harada's sturdy legs stutter.
For such a young fighter, Rose was remarkably cool as he sat in his dressing-room awaiting the contest, and he cracked jokes with a few Australians present until called to the ring. "Harada is a great champion, and although I thought I could win most of the way, I was not really certain until the 14th round," Rose said. "Then he weakened for the first time in the fight and I thought I'd done enough to win by the end of the 15th," added the new champion.
Rose was repeatedly spoken to by referee Toyama and this provided the only concern for the Australian camp and its followers. Afterwards, Rennie said that the referee kept telling Rose he would have to fight more or lose the contest. This was because Rose was fighting on the retreat, and although scoring with much greater frequency than Harada, his skilful display was not suiting the referee.
"I did not feel strange in the ring, and it was just another big fight for me," said Rose. "The Aussie barrackers, with their flags and their vocal support, made it really good. "A couple of times I looked around and I could see them waving the flag, and I knew I was not in there on my own," Rose said.
Lionel Rose on the Melbourne Town Hall balcony with members of his family for the home-coming parade.
Photo: Staff Photographer
Rose, with Rennie and Mrs Shirley Rennie, leave for home tomorrow night by air. The only knockdown in the bout was in the ninth round when Rose clipped Harada with a neat short blow as he went rushing in, but it appeared more as though Harada had slipped. Despite this, referee Toyama applied a count to the Japanese.
Rose's next bout will be in Australia as he has undertaken to fight for Stadiums Ltd., whose managing director, Mr John Wren, was at he ringside tonight. Rose will not be required to defend the title for six months and his next bout will be a non-title affair in either Sydney or Melbourne and could be against a Japanese opponent.
"I'm the happiest person in the world at the moment," Rose said. "I thought if I could last the first eight rounds I would win, and that worked out right."
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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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