Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1257713
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 73 Of hardy Irish-Dutch stock, Rouse hailed from the industrial mining town of Opportunity, an unincorporated community in Deer Lodge County formed in the early 1900s by the Anaconda Copper Company. Opportunity's current population stands at about 9,000 residents. Roger found an opening with his brawn and boxing skills, competing for the world light he*avyweight title twice. Born on June 3, 1934, Rouse was one of seven children of James and Mary Rouse. Roger started boxing at the age of nine when his father, a smelterman at the Anaconda Copper Company, gave him and his younger brother Donald pairs of gloves for Christmas. The brothers learned the fundamentals by reading Nat Fleischer's How to Box. Fleischer, the founder of Ring Magazine, understood the princi- ples of pugilism and published his book in 1929. In an extensive feature that appeared in Sports Illustrated in 1967, Roger spun the questionable yarn that his "…first formal instruction in boxing was from a reformed alcoholic who was training fighters in the back of what is now the Wonder Bar. He worked on my jab, started on my hook a little bit, but then he wouldn't be there. He went on a drunk, picked up a deaf-and-dumb girl, and got 50 years." Rouse continued boxing at Anaconda High School, where his coach, Jack Lodell, was the town's probation officer. Rouse was also a football standout and all-state fullback at Anaconda High. After by BRIAN D'AMBROSIO R OGER ROUSE MIGHT BE THE BEST ATHLETE IN MONTANA'S HISTORY WHO MOST PEOPLE TODAY DO NOT REMEMBER. Indeed, even in 1999 when Sports Illustrated compiled its list of the 50 greatest sports figures from Montana, Rouse failed to rank, although two other boxers, Marvin Camel (#18) and Todd Foster (#40), were included. Roger Rouse the H H H H H H H H H H H H opportunity kid He loved the people, the area, and the simple life. There is no telling how far he would have gone in a boxing Mecca like New York or Las Vegas, but that wasn't his style.