Stanley Weston (né Weinburger; September 25, 1919 – April 11, 2002) was an American publisher,

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

, artist and

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

. He promoted the sport of

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 predetermined ...

and

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

throughout his career. Weston started ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'', a professional wrestling magazine, as well as 20 other magazines over his career. Weston was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in 2006.

Publishing career

Weston became enamored with the sport of boxing at the age of 10 after his father brought home a copy of '' The Ring'' magazine. At the age of 13, Weston met neighbor and ''The Ring'' founder

Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ' ...

and later landed a summer job as a stock boy at the publication. Weston was soon colorizing black and white portraits of boxing figures with oils. In December 1939, Weston, a budding artist, painted a portrait of

Billy Conn William David Conn (October 8, 1917 – May 29, 1993) was an Irish American professional boxer and Light Heavyweight Champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins ...

that would be the first of 57 ''Ring'' covers. Daughter Toby Weston Cone said of her father, he "never liked going to boxing matches but was extremely interested in the sport. He felt it paralleled life in many ways." Weston, a retired Air Force major, had served in both World War II and in Korea. He took a four-year leave in 1941 to serve in the Air Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He returned to civilian life and ''The Ring'' in 1945, but left the publication in 1951. He served in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and then he launched ''Boxing & Wrestling'', successfully competing with ''The Ring''. He launched ''Boxing Illustrated/Wrestling News'' in 1958 and published it until 1964. In 1989, Fifty-two years after joining ''The Ring'' as a stock boy, Weston purchased the magazine that gave him his first job. He was also an author who penned several of the definitive books on boxing history, including ''History of the Heavyweights'', ''The Heavyweight Champions'', ''The Best of The Ring'', ''The Chronicle of Boxing'' and, with Steve Farhood, '' The Ring: Boxing the 20th Century''.

Personal life

Weston was born to Bessie (Biegeleisen) and Jacob Weinburger in the Bronx. He was married to Hope Patrick (died 1980) for 38 years. He died on April 11, 2002 from cancer. He was survived by two daughters, Toby Weston Cone and Barbara Harris, along with four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Throughout his seven decades long career in boxing, he amassed one of the largest collections of boxing

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

in the world.

Awards and accomplishments

**Inductee - Observer (2006) *''

'' **

PWI Stanley Weston Award This is a list of both active and inactive ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' awards which are voted on by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestling ...

(1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Stanley American sportswriters Sports photographers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Boxing writers 1919 births 2002 deaths Deaths from cancer in New York (state)