Daniel Mendoza (5 July 1764 – 3 September 1836) (often known as Dan Mendoza) was English prizefighting champion from 1792–1795. He was of Sephardic or Portuguese Jewish descent. Mendoza was the most accomplished and scientific fighter of his time; he was intelligent, communicative, a master of ring strategy and defense, and several rungs above his contemporaries. His life was a study in contrasts, however. He could be brave, kind and charismatic, or dangerously violent, and was found guilty of crimes of fraud and assault in 1793 and 1795. His poor money management skills and lack of business acumen landed him in debtors' prison on several occasions. Mendoza played a significant role in the development of scientific technique in boxing, by publishing two books on the subject ('The Art of Boxing' and 'The Modern Art of Boxing') and by holding frequent public exhibitions. He became an heroic and admired figure, and elevated the status of Jews in London during a period of significant antisemitism. Early life and ancestry Daniel Mendoza was born in Whitechapel, Aldgate, London, England, on 5 July 1764, to a family of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also known as Sephardim. By the time he was born, Jews had been allowed to settle in England for about one hundred years, having been readmitted officially by Cromwell in 1656. They were still regarded by many Londoners with a degree of suspicion and confronted antisemitism. His ancestors came from Jaén, Spain; they had emigrated to the Netherlands, which had a policy of toleration, where his grandfather was born. The family moved to London, with ancestors living there for a century before Mendoza's birth. Several sources wrote that some of his London ancestors from Spain had earlier concealed their Jewish identity and converted to Christianity, becoming Marannos. According to many genealogical websites, his parents were Abraham Aaron Mendoza and Esther Lopez and were believed to be artisans. Jewish scholar Albert Hyamson wrote that Aaron Mendoza, a ritual slaughterer or shochet, who had written a book on his craft in 1773, was his grandfather. Mendoza attended a Jewish school, Shaare Tikvah, where he was instructed in English grammar, writing and arithmetic, as well as Hebrew. He grew up in London's East End in poor surroundings and worked as a glass cutter, laborer, assistant to a green grocer, and an actor before taking up boxing as a profession. According to several sources, Mendoza was