Armand "Al" Weill (December 28, 1893 – October 20, 1969) was a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

manager.

Background

Weill moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from his birthplace of France at the age of 13. In his early years, he began working as a professional

ballroom dancer Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television ...

and would promote dance competitions. At the time, boxing matches and dance competitions were often held in the same locations, and Weill found his way into becoming a manager at the Harlem Sporting Club.

Early professional career

Weill began managing boxers at the Harlem Sporting Club. The first professional boxer he managed was New York State featherweight champion Charlie Pilkington. Over the course of his career, he managed four world champions

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and several other boxers. In 1930, Weill and his business partner Dick Gray arrived in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

and established the Thames Arena, where Weill began making a promoting matches. In 1949, Weill became matchmaker at Madison Square Garden where he stayed until 1952.

Marciano's manager

In 1952, Weill left Madison Square Garden to become the manager of boxer Rocky Marciano. On June 18, 1957, Marciano announced publicly that he and Weill were ending their partnership "amicably." Weill had largely limited Marciano's public appearances, and as a result of his retirement a year earlier, wanted to focus on charitable work that Weill had so long forbid.

Later years

In 1958, Weill moved to California, saying "Hollywood and Los Angeles are the greatest fight cities in the world.". Later in his life, Weill himself retired from boxing to Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weill, Al 1893 births 1969 deaths American boxing managers French emigrants to the United States