Australian sports and political figures on Monday paid tribute to boxing great Lionel Rose, the first Aboriginal boxer to win a world title, who died over the weekend at age 62. Thousands of mourners turned out. A State Funeral was held at Festival Hall in Melbourne. Rose was the first indigenous Australian to win a world championship after defeating 'Fighting' Harada in Tokyo to claim the WBA/WBC world bantamweight boxing titles in 1968. In 2007 Rose suffered a stroke which impaired his movement and speech, and was ill for months prior his death.