Daniel Mendoza, Professor of Pugilism: How a Sephardic Jew in 18th-Century Britain Became One of the World’s First Sports Stars
Library East Judaica Suite University of FloridaDaniel Mendoza (1765-1836), a Sephardic Jew from London, was Britain’s boxing champion from 1790 to 1795. He enjoyed unparalleled fame and earned enormous sums of money for his matches, which drew large crowds and were widely reported in the press. As a “professor of pugilism” who gave lessons and wrote a book on boxing, he helped to popularize a sport that was widely viewed as quintessentially British. Although he was occasionally the object of anti-Jewish, he was widely respected and imitated.