Staffordshire Pottery Jug, depicting the fight between Daniel Mendoza and Richard Humphreys, (c.1800)From the collection of the Jewish Museum London

Daniel Mendoza, a Sephardi Jew, was champion boxer of England for most years from 1788 until 1795. Mendoza was a hugely popular character who introduced a new 'scientific' style of boxing, and was famed throughout the country as a skilled and courageous fighter.

The illustration on the jug depicts Mendoza's famous fight with Richard Humphries in 1788.

Mendoza's success encouraged other Jews into the boxing ring, the most famous being Samuel Elias, known as Dutch Sam. Mendoza set up a school of boxing in 1787, and the many Jewish boys he trained encouraged a lasting connection between Jews and boxing in England.

The Jewish Museum, London holds many prints of Daniel Mendoza and other eighteenth and nineteenth century Jewish boxers in its collections.