Foul Play, or Humphreys and Johnson a Match for Mendoza

This is the second of two prints Gillray created about the Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza fight that took place at Odiham on January 9th, 1788. It is quite similar in style and portraiture to the first print, The Famous Battle between Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza... published roughly a week earlier. But this one is much more dramatic, recording a crucial moment in the fight that some considered a blatant foul, when, according to the London Chronicle Humphreys' second, Thomas Johnson, stepped in between Mendoza and Humphreys preventing "Mendoza from following up a blow which probably might have produced a material turn in the contest."

Humphreys recovered, and eventually went on to win the fight when Mendoza lost his footing on the slippery stage, strained his ankle, and was forced to retire.

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on Foul Play, or Humphreys and Johnson a Match for Mendoza
• "Noble Art: the BSAT Boxing Print Collection" British Sporting Art Trust.

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