21 Daniel Mendoza

Boxing matches were very popular in England two hundred years ago. In those days, boxers fought with bare fists for prize money.

Because of this, they were known as ‘prizefighters’.

However, boxing was very crude, for there were no rules and a prizefighter could be seriously injured or even killed during a match.

One of the most colourful figures in boxing history was Daniel Mendoza, who was born in 1764.

The use of gloves was not introduced until 1860, when the Marquis of Queensberry drew up the first set of rules.

Though he was technically a prizefighter, Mendoza did much to change crude prizefighting into a sport, for he brought science to the game.