第21课

旁白 neutral

Boxing matches were very popular in England two hundred years ago.

两百年前，拳击比赛在英格兰非常盛行。

旁白 neutral

In those days, boxers fought with bare fists for prize money.

在那些日子里，拳击手们赤手空拳地搏斗以争夺奖金。

旁白 neutral

Because of this, they were known as 'prizefighters'.

正因为如此，他们被称为“职业拳击手”。

旁白 neutral

However, boxing was very crude,

然而，拳击是非常原始的，

旁白 neutral

for there were no rules and a prizefighter could be seriously injured or even killed during a match.

因为当时没有规则，职业拳击手在比赛中可能会受重伤，甚至死亡。

旁白 neutral

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

拳击史上最引人注目的人物之一是丹尼尔·门多萨，他出生于1764年。

旁白 neutral

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

直到1860年，昆斯伯里侯爵制定了第一套规则后，才引入了手套的使用。

旁白 neutral

Though he was technically a prizefighter,

尽管从技术上讲他是一名职业拳击手，

旁白 neutral

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

但门多萨为将原始的职业拳击比赛转变为一项运动做了很多工作，因为他将科学带入了这项运动。

旁白 neutral

In his day, Mendoza enjoyed tremendous popularity.

在他那个时代，门多萨享有巨大的声望。

旁白 neutral

He was adored by rich and poor alike.

他深受富人和穷人的喜爱。

旁白 neutral

Mendoza rose to fame swiftly after a boxing match when he was only fourteen years old.

门多萨在14岁时参加一场拳击比赛后迅速成名。

旁白 neutral

This attracted the attention of Richard Humphries who was then the most eminent boxer in England.

这引起了理查德·汉弗莱斯的注意，他当时是英格兰最杰出的拳击手。

旁白 neutral

He offered to train Mendoza and his young pupil was quick to learn.

他主动提出训练门多萨，而他的年轻学生也学得很快。

旁白 neutral

In fact, Mendoza soon became so successful that Humphries turned against him.

事实上，门多萨很快就变得非常成功，以至于汉弗莱斯转而反对他。

旁白 neutral

The two men quarrelled bitterly and it was clear that the argument could only be settled by a fight.

两人激烈争吵，很明显，争论只能通过一场战斗来解决。

旁白 neutral

A match was held at Stilton, where both men fought for an hour.

在斯蒂尔顿举行了一场比赛，两人激战了一个小时。

旁白 neutral

The public bet a great deal of money on Mendoza, but he was defeated.

公众在门多萨身上下了大笔赌注，但他被击败了。

旁白 neutral

Mendoza met Humphries in the ring on a later occasion and he lost for a second time.

门多萨后来又在拳击台上与汉弗莱斯相遇，但他第二次输了。

旁白 neutral

It was not until his third match in 1790 that he finally beat Humphries and became Champion of England.

直到1790年的第三场比赛，他才最终击败汉弗莱斯，成为英格兰冠军。

旁白 neutral

Meanwhile, he founded a highly successful Academy and even Lord Byron became one of his pupils.

同时，他创办了一所非常成功的拳击学院，甚至拜伦勋爵也成了他的学生之一。

旁白 neutral

He earned enormous sums of money and was paid as much as £100 for a single appearance.

他赚取了巨额财富，单次出场费高达100英镑。

旁白 neutral

Despite this, he was so extravagant that he was always in debt.

尽管如此，他非常奢侈，总是负债累累。

旁白 neutral

After he was defeated by a boxer called Gentleman Jackson, he was quickly forgotten.

在他被一位名叫“绅士”杰克逊的拳击手击败后，他很快就被遗忘了。

旁白 neutral

He was sent to prison for failing to pay his debts and died in poverty in 1836.

他因未能偿还债务而被送进监狱，并于1836年贫困潦倒地去世。