Mendoza

During the second half of the 18th century, Daniel Mendoza was easily one of the best known prize fighters in England. During a long career in which he fought bare-knuckle, without gloves, he virtually revolutionized the sport of boxing, making a systematic study of pugilistic defence for which he was often called the "scientific" boxer. Only five foot seven, he defeated much taller and heavier opponents by ducking, weaving, side-stepping, and blocking—all of which were new to the sport.

In addition to this non-caricatured portrait, Gillray featured Mendoza in at least three other prints:

Mendoza...Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

Mendoza [1788]
© Trustees of the British Museum

The first two of Gillray's prints, published several months earlier than this one in conjunction with the famous match between Mendoza and Humphreys in January, 1788, were probably created from other prints of the fighters and from the detailed accounts of the fight in numerous newspapers of the time. This may account for the fact that the two prints were published anonymously: Gillray did not wish to claim authorship for second-hand productions.

In this large portrait, however, Gillray claims authorship, and even includes "ad viv" suggesting that it was done from the life. It is certainly not impossible that Gillray obtained a face to face interview with Mendoza to sketch him in his trademark stance. The resemblance to other contemporary portraits of Mendoza makes that credible. But it is unlikely that it was done at an actual fight as shown. Mendoza severely sprained his ankle in the match against Humphreys and would probably not have fought again until it was perfectly healed. And in fact, there is no mention of another Mendoza fight between January and the end of April when this print was published.

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