The rise of sports agent Matt Rose and his plans to take on the world with Tim Tszyu
A former schoolteacher has suddenly emerged as one of the most powerful figures in Australian sport, combining a mix of nous and bravado that is changing the game for sports agents and fight promoters.
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He is the former schoolteacher with a cleaning business who has suddenly emerged as one of the most powerful figures in Australian sport.
Matt Rose manages NRL stars Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton and Cody Walker, has just signed emerging UFC star Tai Tuivasa, and has now made Tim Tszyu the face of Australian boxing within five fights of a deal in which he outbid American supremo Bob Arum.
The brother of former NRL star George Rose, Matt is cutting a swath through the Australian sporting landscape with a mix of nous and bravado that has shattered old working methods for sports agents and fight promoters.
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Two years ago, Rose had signed a deal with Fox Sports to show a number of fight cards.
He made the Paul Gallen versus Junior Paulo fight, and Anthony Mundine versus Tommy Browne bout the two highest-rating boxing shows in the pay television network’s history.
Problem was, he had no genuine Main Event superstar.
In the background, young Tszyu was building up his resume.
But because of his surname and identical features to legendary father Kostya, Tszyu was being chased by Arum, and Jeff Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan.
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Rose, who has seemingly been taking major gambles since his foray into sports eight years ago, took his greatest risk yet and put all his chips on Tszyu, with a vision to make him a global star.
Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings, who managed Kostya throughout his glorious career, knocked back Top Rank boss Arum and Lonergan, and signed with Rose, which Kostya agrees with as Tim seeks a world title.
“He’s got this opportunity, and he’s got a great team behind him,” Kostya Tszyu said.
“Glen Jennings worked with me throughout my whole career, and I know that he will never put Tim in any position where he will be uncomfortable, I trust Glen so much.”
In April last year, Rose stated he would make Tszyu, who had only had 10 professional fights, the face of Australian boxing within 12 months and would make all of his future fights pay-per-view.
“We got laughed at, some people said we’d be knocked out of boxing in 12 months,” Rose said.
But Rose already had his eyes on a showdown with Horn.
“Then I watched Michael Zerafa beat Horn this time last year, and I thought that fight might get away from us,” Rose said. “Then Jeff won the rematch, and I knew I had to make it happen quickly.”
So when Lonergan declared they would only take the fight if Horn took 60 per cent of the cut, Rose didn’t bother negotiating.
“I just knew I had to get it done, and I knew that if we beat Jeff then, pound-for-pound, Tim would be the best fighter in Australia.”
It was another gamble that paid off spectacularly last Wednesday night when Tszyu battered Horn for eight rounds before his corner threw in the towel before the ninth.
“We set up the fight but that performance was all Tim Tszyu, it was just astonishing to see how well he performed, on that stage and at that level,” Rose said.
Rose, 41, created his No Limit Management company in 2012 after a dinner conversation with brothers George and Trent.
After leaving teaching to work for the NSW Government in Aboriginal affairs, Rose began to manage George as the prop forward played the final year of his career.
The three brothers, who now also run a commercial cleaning business among five companies under their control, believed there was a need for a more “family-style” approach to managing athletes.
Rose’s first client was Walker, one of the great success stories of recent times, having made his NRL debut at the ripe age of 26.
Wighton, last year’s Clive Churchill medallist, was soon on board, and then Rose pulled the biggest name in the game.
Mitchell had split with agent Steve Deacon to join Wayde Rushton. However, he was unhappy and made the choice to have Rose handle his affairs, and the budding Jerry Maguire was soon negotiating the most controversial defection of the season as Mitchell joined Souths from the Roosters.
Amid all this he was plotting the course for boxing events with Tszyu and Gallen, all while trying to shake up traditional ideals about promoting the sweet science.
“One of the biggest dramas we have is about no tables at ringside, people can’t understand why they can’t buy tables for our fights,” Rose said.
“It has to look right, not just at the venue but on television. It has to be appealing, you can still have food and alcohol at ringside without putting a bunch of tables around the ring.
“Our first show was at Dubbo RSL in front of 350 people.”
Last August, Rose was spotted in Darling Harbour at 10pm days before Tszyu fought the late Dwight Ritchie, trying to sell tickets to passers by for the show at the International Convention Centre.
Last Wednesday, 13,000 attended the Horn-Tszyu showdown in Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium, the second largest crowd at a boxing event this year, only behind the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder rematch in Las Vegas.
“We will put big events in big stadiums, all over Australia, while smaller shows will still have to be at well-known major venues, I won’t budge on that,” Rose said.
The desire to shake up boxing has not been without flaw. Last May, former NRL star Justin Hodges defeated ill-equipped opponent Troy McMahon in a farcical 23-second affair.
“When we started, we identified that a big problem in Australian boxing were the number of mismatches,” Rose said. “And then that happened with Hodges, and I was furious with myself. That wasn’t us. Never again.
“I also don’t want to now just rely on Tim Tszyu. Yes, he is the superstar of Australian boxing, and he will headline some great shows, but we have a tremendous generation of talent coming through who need to be given a spotlight.
“We can bring in stars under Tszyu, who can go on to become superstars like him.
“Every fight on every card we do, will have to be an even contest, no mismatches, and the cream will rise to the top. In the US and the UK, Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn have had great success because they put on regular shows with great fights.
“We’re not content with boxing as a tier-two sport here, it should be spoken about like the NRL and AFL, Australia is a nation that loves its fights.
“We’re taking on the world.”
‘He deserves this’: Kostya’s salute to Tim Tszyu
Kostya Tszyu admits he was blown away by son Tim’s control and composure during his annihilation of Jeff Horn last Wednesday.
Watching from his home in Russia, the former undisputed world champion took most pride in his boy’s ability to temper his emotions on such a big stage.
“He had full control of the fight, of all of the emotions inside of him, you can never let one bit of negativity from him come out of his mind or body,” Tszyu said from Moscow.
The legendary pugilist had some simple advice for his 25-year-old son, who has become Australia’s biggest boxing star overnight.
“Be humble, the way he is now,” Tszyu said.
“Never change his attitude towards people, I told him a long time ago, the way you want to be treated, treat people the same way, and don’t be disrespectful.
“Let the Australian public make their own decision on how they want to embrace Tim, the same way as me or maybe differently, but he definitively deserves this.”
Kostya had believed Tim (16-0, 12KO) would defeat Horn, but not in such an emphatic manner.
“I did not expect that much, but of course I did expect him to win and that he would dominate him by his presence in the ring,” Tszyu said.
“First of all it was his preparation, he put everything on the line. He sacrificed, in terms of moving away from the whole family and going to Jeff’s territory, and all the sacrifices paid big dividends.”
Kostya has been overwhelmed by the response to Tim’s victory.
“I’ve had so many phone calls from boxers in Russia, and all the Russian supporters congratulating me, I’m very happy,” he said.
And what does he believe of Tim’s potential?
“Working every single day in the gym, no rest, until he reaches his goal which is to be a world champion,” Tszyu said.
Originally published as The rise of sports agent Matt Rose and his plans to take on the world with Tim Tszyu