The Fighting Jew

As one of the first Jewish sporting superstars, Daniel Mendoza, boxing champion of England from 1792 to 1795, challenged perceptions and stereotypes ‒ he demanded respect. He is said to have been the first Jew to talk privately at length to the King. He made history by taking part in the first sporting event with an entrance fee. He pioneered 'side-stepping' and was the greatest 'scientific boxer' of the age. Mendoza is unarguably among the most important boxers in the history of the sport. Begetter of the Golden Age of British pugilism, patronised by dandies, royals and roaring boys, he was the creator of a sporting revolution at a time of political revolution, turning what had been a contest of brute strength with the indiscipline of a street brawl into what some called a science, some an art. As a publicist, meanwhile, he was an expert manipulator of public opinion. He used the anti-Semitism of his times to his own benefit, and in so doing raised the social status of his fellow Jews. His final achievement was to have written what may be the first sports autobiography. He was, in all these respects, quite exceptional, a superstar; or, as one contemporary put it, 'The Complete Artist'. Astonishingly, this is the first full biography of one of Britain's greatest sporting heroes.