Homeland/Country: Mexico
Weight Class: Bantamweight (115 to 118 Pounds Weight Limit)
Stance: Orthodox Stance & Brawling Stance
Speciality/Techniques/Abilities: Neck Spin, Bone Breaking Corkscrew Blow/Punches, Left Jab, Counter and "The Perfect Defense"
The Main Antagonist of Ashita No Joe 2 & Second Half of Ashita No Joe Manga. He is the Undisputed and Undefeated Bantamweight Champion of the World that holds the WBA and WBC belts. Jose Mendoza can be described as very quiet but confident Champion who acts like a Gentleman but can be rude to those who are rude or disrespectful to him. When he talks he has a very intimidating deep voice. He has fair or light skin, has blue eyes, big heavyhands and has a signature mustache. Jose Mendoza is a family man as he likes to spend time with his family outside of Boxing. He is described as "The Strongest Man In The World" or "The Perfect Champion". He defended his WBC World Bantamweight Championship a Total of 17 times all by Knock Out. He has killed opponents in the ring or knock them all out in brutal fashion even giving one of his opponents permanent brain damage. This makes Jose Mendoza a very dangerous Boxer.
He first comes to Joe's attention after defeating the then sixth ranked WBC contender, Carlos Rivera after Joe's contested bout with the Venezuelan boxer, Carlos Rivera ended up getting severe brain damage (Punch Drunk Syndrome) and a broken part of his skull (X-Rays prove this) after receiving Corkscrew Punches from Jose Mendoza. Jose Mendoza the WBC Bantamweight Champion also unifies his WBC title against Harold Gomez the WBA Bantamweight Champion. Jose kills Harold Gomez with Corkscrew Punches breaking Harold's Jaw and Knocking him out only for Harold to never wake up again as he is confirmed dead at the Hospital. Jose Mendoza since then became Undisputed Champion of the Two Belt Era when unifying WBC and WBA Championships gives you Undisputed Status
Jose Mendoza is a character based off or inspired by Real Mexican Professional Boxer Carlos "El Cañas" Zarate who was a World Champion at Bantamweight and was a KO artist. Also Mexican Professional Boxer Ruben "El Puas" Olivares may have also been an inspiration since he is also one of the best Bantamweight World Champions in history. Real Life Mexican Professional Boxer Jose Medel was Name Dropped in the First season of Ashita No Joe Episode 15 as one of the boxers who used The Cross Counter (later on it becomes Joe Yabuki's signature punch) who knocked out Japanese Boxing Legends, Fighting Harada and Seki Mitsunori. It could be possible foreshadowing or the reason why the character Jose Mendoza is named Jose since its also common name in Mexico.
During his bout with Joe, he believed him to be a 'phantom' due to the amount of punches Joe received but continued to fight. Despite managing to win by decision after 15 Rounds in both the anime and manga, the stress from the situation caused him to foul and after the fight, age him and make his hair turn white. Jose may have ended up being Punch Drunk as well
