THERE was a time when the Rose brothers were seeking Group 10 Rugby League premiership glory, but now Matt, George and Trent are focused on a landmark moment in Australian boxing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
No Limit Boxing, which was founded by the Rose brothers, is the promoter for the huge Jeff Horn versus Tim Tszyu card to be staged in Townsville on Wednesday night.
While it is just the 11th show the Rose brothers' company has put on, it will be viewed not only by a big crowd ring side, but by boxing fans across the globe.
Matt Rose, the chief executive officer of No Limit, says it feels "a bit surreal" to think how far their company has come.
"Without a doubt this is our biggest event, we are staging a show which is going world wide, it's super exciting for us, it's something which certainly ticks a box in terms of major achievements," he said.
"It's going to be a sell out, I think we'll end up landing at 13,025, that's what they are going to allow us to have in the stadium. It would have been great to see where we could have went without COVID restrictions, but in saying that, the [North Queensland] Cowboys are only getting 7,500 fans at most of their NRL games.
"It's the second biggest boxing event this year in the world. We've got the whole world watching -ESPN in America, Match TV in Russia - it's everywhere. This could go down as one of the biggest pay-per-view events in Australian boxing."
While it was four years ago the Rose brothers grabbed headlines when being signed as high profile recruits for the Oberon Tigers - George making the switch to Group 10 after an NRL career - they began their time as boxing promoters before that.
It began in 2013 with a few hundred fans watching an event at the Dubbo RSL Club.
"Yeah, not long ago we were out in the cold weather at Oberon playing footy together there - it's funny how things move so quick," Matt said.
"Originally we were in management then we went across to promoting. When we first started to promote our first show was actually at the Dubbo RSL, it's crazy to think about our first show being there in 2013 and now we're at Townsville Stadium.
"This is only our 11th show. It was Dubbo RSL, then it was Orange Function Centre, then it was the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern. After that we jumped into the Hordern Pavilion which was our first Fox Sports show.
"We've gone from there to a casino, to the convention centre and now the stadium in Townsville, so it has been a progression each time."
While it has been a rapid progression for the Bathurst brothers, Matt said their goal when first forming No Limit Boxing was to stage events of this stature.
They were passionate about raising the profile of boxing and altering some of the negative perceptions surrounding the sport.
"Me and my brothers, when we originally went into it, we always had ambitions to bring the sport back up to a level of this calibre. It has happened quicker than we anticipated, but we always had a plan in place," Matt said.
"Everything we are doing now is to try and make boxing considered a genuine sport in Australia."
The Tszyu versus Horn bout at Queensland Country Bank Stadium is certainly one which has created excitement for sports fans. They will do battle over 10, three-minute rounds for the International Boxing Federation Australasian and World Boxing Organisation Global Super Welter Titles.
Horn, who has a 20-2-1 record, previously held the WBO welterweight title while Tszyu, who No Limit Boxing represents, is undefeated in his 15 professional bouts.
Linking with Tim Tszyu, son of multiple world champion Kostya Tszyu, was a big moment for the Rose brothers.
"It was about 18 months ago we got a Fox Sports contract to deliver boxing in Australia, then we decided to sign Tim Tszyu. He was relatively unknown, but obviously had a strong link with his father being a world champion and being a legend in the sport," Matt said.
"We teamed up with the thought process we could take him to the very top, make him a super star in Australian boxing. Now he'll probably be a sports star in general if he can beat Jeff Horn.
"It's been 15 years since a fight of this significance has happened, when Anthony Mundine fought Danny Green the first time. This fight is along similar line - both are in a stadium and both have a similar sort of following with the Australian public.
"It's really exciting to think we have such a big platform to deliver this even one.
"The sad part about it is that the boys aren't here because of COVID, unfortunately George and Trenty can't actually be at the event. The boys are kicking themselves they can't be here on Wednesday night, but we can't do too much about that.
"We are super proud, we can't wait and hopefully Tim gets the win."
