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Daniel Mendoza

丹尼尔·门多萨

Daniel Mendoza was the first Jewish prize-fighter to become a champion. Though he stood only 5'7" and weighed 160 pounds, Mendoza was England’s sixteenth Heavyweight Champion from 1792 to 1795. Always proud of his heritage, he billed himself as Mendoza the Jew.

丹尼尔·门多萨是第一位获得冠军的犹太拳击手。尽管门多萨身高只有5英尺7英寸，体重160磅，但他是1792年至1795年英国第十六位重量级冠军。他总是为自己的民族传承感到骄傲，称自己是犹太人门多萨。

He is the father of scientific boxing. At a time when the sport of boxing consisted primarily of barehanded slugging, Mendoza introduced the concept of defense. He developed the guard, the straight left, and made use of sidestepping tactics. This new strategy, the Mendoza School, also referred to as the Jewish School, was criticized in some circles as cowardly. But it permitted Mendoza to fully capitalize on his small stature, speed, and punching power.

他是科学拳击之父。当拳击运动主要是徒手击打时，门多萨引入了防守的概念。他发展了防守和直左技术，并利用了侧步战术。这种新策略，被称为门多萨学派，也被称为犹太学派，在一些圈子里被批评为懦弱。但这让门多萨能够充分利用他矮小的身材、速度和击打力量。

His first recorded prizefight was a knockout of an opponent, known as Harry the Coalheaver, whom he dispatched in 40 rounds. A victory in his first professional fight in 1787 won him the patronage of the Prince of Wales (later George IV), the first boxer to earn this honor. His acceptance by British royalty (he was the first Jew ever to speak to England’s King George III) helped elevate the position of the Jew in English society and stem a vicious tide of anti-Semitism that many Englishmen read into Shakespeare’s characterization of Shylock in his play The Merchant of Venice.

他有记录的第一场职业拳击比赛是淘汰了一位被称为“煤炭搬运工哈里”的对手，他在40轮比赛中击败了他。1787年，他在第一场职业拳击比赛中获胜，赢得了威尔士亲王（后来的乔治四世）的庇护，他是第一位获得这一荣誉的拳击手。他被英国皇室接纳（他是有史以来第一个与英国国王乔治三世交谈的犹太人）有助于提升犹太人在英国社会中的地位，并遏制反犹太主义的恶性浪潮，这一点许多英国人在莎士比亚的戏剧《威尼斯商人》中对夏洛克的刻画中都读到了。

Mendoza had a series of storied matches against rival Richard Humphries, one each in 1788, 1789, and 1790. He lost the first battle in 29 rounds but won the latter pair in 52 and 15 rounds. He laid claim to the English boxing title in 1791 when the prevailing champion, Benjamin Brain, retired. Another top English boxer, Bill Warr, contested Mendoza’s claim. In May 1792, the two met to settle the matter in Croydon, England. Mendoza was victorious in 23 rounds. Warr and Mendoza met again in November 1794, and this time it took the champion only 15 minutes to dispose of the challenger.

门多萨在1788年、1789年和1790年分别与对手理查德·汉弗莱斯进行了一系列富有传奇色彩的比赛。他在29轮比赛中输掉了第一场比赛，但在之后的52轮和15轮比赛中都打败了对方。1791年，当当时的冠军本杰明·布雷恩退役时，他获得了英国拳击冠军。另一位英国顶级拳击手比尔·瓦尔对门多萨的说法提出了质疑。1792年5月，两人在英国克罗伊登会面解决此事。门多萨在23轮比赛中获胜。1794年11月，瓦尔和门多萨再次相遇，这一次冠军只花了15分钟就击败了挑战者。

Mendoza, a descendant of Spanish Marranos (Jews coerced into conversion to Christianity) who had lived in London for nearly a century, became such a popular figure in England that songs were written about him, and his name appeared in scripts of numerous plays. His personal appearances would fill theaters, portraits of him and his fights were popular subjects for artists, and commemorative medals were struck in his honor.

门多萨是西班牙马拉诺人（被迫皈依基督教的犹太人）的后裔，在伦敦生活了近一个世纪，在英国成为了一个非常受欢迎的人物，以至于人们都在写关于他的歌曲，他的名字也出现在许多戏剧的剧本中。他的个人亮相将会使得剧院人满为患，他的肖像和他的比赛是艺术家们的热门主题，人们还铸造了他的纪念章。

Daniel Mendoza was one of the inaugural group elected in 1954 to the Boxing Hall of Fame and of the inaugural of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

丹尼尔·门多萨是1954年当选拳击名人堂的首届成员之一，也是1990年国际拳击名人堂首届成员之一。

【Source】http://www.jewishsports.net

【Translated by】Spark Liao (廖怀宝)

【Illustration】From Bing

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