The Great Mendoza-Humphries Trilogy
“It was the best of times, it was the worth of times,” Charles Dickens wrote at the start of his novel of the French Revolution, The Tale of Two Cities. And indeed, even as the French Revolution kicked off in Paris, igniting a 10-year reign of chaos and terror which would culminate in the rise of Napoleon, in London and the rest of England, sporting men from all social classes were captivated by one of the greatest rivalries in the long history of prizefighting, between Daniel Mendoza and Richard Humphries.
The three fights between the two from 1788 to 1790 established Mendoza as boxing’s first true superstar. His success as a fighter also allowed him to destroy popular stereotypes about Jews being physically weak, feeble and cowardly. It is believed that Mendoza was the first Jew to ever speak to King George III.
Mendoza was on the small size for a prize fighter, even by the standards of his era. At 5'7" and 160 pounds, he would be no more than a middleweight today. He compensated for the physical edge that he yielded to most opponents by way of speed and cunning. He developed a clever technical style that was absolutely revolutionary for the time. Employing brilliant footwork and a closed guard, he was able to minimize his opponents punishment, while accurately delivering his own sharp punches before moving out of range.
Pierce Egan called Mendoza “one of the most elegant and scientific puglists in the whole race of boxers” and a “complete artist. His theoretical acquirements were great and his practice truly extensive.”
While Mendoza was a Jew and thus a natural outsider, Richard Humphries was the golden boy of the era. He was a well-mannered, even genteel, person, and like Mendoza, a true student of the Sweet Science. He was particularly popular with aristocratic boxing fans; Egan writes “The science, courage and gentleman-like behavior of Humphries had secured him many friends and with a mind by no means destitute of intelligence, he became a real fancy article.”
Humphries was a punishing and accurate puncher who was noted for his ability to pound the body. Originally, he was something of a mentor toward the younger Mendoza, but differences in temperment and habit seem to have led to a falling out that became increasingly contentious and very nearly led to an impromptu fight outside of a tavern in 1787. Their rivalry was noted for a series of insulting letters published back-and-forth between the two in popular sporting newspapers, a late 18th century version of a Twitter feud.
When the two finally faced off in an official bout at Odiham in Hampshire in January 1788, it was a major cultural event. According to Egan, “the day being set, description falls short in portraying the anxiety which prevailed upon the decisions of this set-to, both in town and country. The first-rate fanciers were off in thoroughbred style; and no sporting kid that could muster the blunt was absent; distance was out of the question and weather was no object, Humphries and Mendoza were to fight and that was the only consideation.” It is believed that as many as 60,000 people were on hand for the bout.
The two fought on a stage that had been made slick from an early morning rain fall. After nearly a half hour of hard, back-and-forth fighting, Mendoza slipped and sprained his ankle, rendering him unable to continue.
About a week before the second meeting between the two, in May 1789, the first widespread violence of the French uprising broke out, with the Revellion Riots kicking off on April 28, leading to the death of about 25 French soldiers.
Meanwhile, the rematch between Mendoza and Humphries attracted so much attention that a special theater was built in Stilton, on the estate of a rich boxing fan. Three thousand fans paid admission while uncounted others climbed trees and hills to catch what they could of the action.
This bout marked Mendoza truly coming into his own as a legendary fighter. Humphries showed true game and made for a protracted battle of more than an hour and over 60 rounds. But the fight was dominated by Mendoza almost from start to finish.
Egan notes that “Mendoza, from his superior style of stopping, received scarcely any blows of consequence, excepting a severe one on his cheek.” By contrast, “the head of Humphries exhibited severe symptoms of punishment, his face was much disfigured, one of his eyes completely closed up and his forehead and lip very much lacerated.”
As is so often the case with great fighters, Humphries had a difficult time accepting that he had truly been bested by a better man. A rubbermatch was set for September 1790 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. This time, the yard of an inn was selected as the location, and a partial wall erected, to lessen the chances of the authorities intervening and to make it easier to collect the price of admission. However, once again the thronging masses turned out, rowing to the inn from across a river and pulling down the barricade. Five hundred paid for tickets, but at least six thousand were present to witness the action.
This time around, Humphries started with aggressive confidence and fought Mendoza on very even terms in the early rounds of the fight. But as the battle wore on, Mendoza’s genius once more slowly began to separate him from his rival. After the first 10 rounds, the betting odds on Mendoza had risen from 5–4 to 10–1.
Humphries again showed his legendary gameness and bottom, once more extending the fight out to over an hour. But he ultimately sustained a second beating at Mendoza’s hands.
All too often, fallen fighters of the era would be coldly cast aside by rich patrons, who were furious at their gambling losses. But in the case of Humphries, his valor and heart were honored by his backers, even in defeat. After retiring from the ring, one of them set him up in business as a coal merchant and he prospered.
Mendoza would reign as Champion of England for another five year, before losing a one-sided drubbing to John Jackson, a much bigger and younger man, in 1795.
After dropping the title, Mendoza retired from active competition to operate a boxing academy and to run a pub. However, a personal dispute with Harry Lee led him to return to action in 1806, at the age of 42. In a fight that lasted over an hour, Mendoza gave Lee a thorough and painful boxing lesson. Another argument in 1820 led Mendoza to make one last trip to the ring, at age 56, as he lost in 12 rounds and 15 minutes to the upstart Tom Owens.
Michael Shapiro’s 1994 book The Jewish 100 ranked Mendoza as the 82nd most influential Jew in history, one spot behind Henry Miller but ahead of the likes of Emma Goldman, Bob Dylan, Sandy Koufax, Jerome Kern and Groucho Marx.
