Stanley Weston

Stanley Weston  (né Weinburger; September 25, 1919 – April 11, 2002) was an American publisher, sportswriter, artist and photographer. He promoted the sport of boxing and professional wrestling throughout his career. Weston started Pro Wrestling Illustrated, a professional wrestling magazine, as well as 20 other magazines over his career. Weston was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.

Early life
Weston was born to Bessie (Biegeleisen) and Jacob Weinburger in the Bronx. His family eventually moved out to Long Island and became neighbors with Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring magazine. Weston soon became enamored with the sport of boxing when his father brought home a copy Fleischer's magazine and in 1937 Fleischer hired him as copy boy.

Career
After being hired by Fleischer, 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 that would be the first of 57 Ring covers painted by Weston. 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's work in the publishing industry was interrupted by World War II when served in the United States Army from 1941 until 1946. He returned to civilian life and The Ring in 1945, but left the publication in 1951 and once again returned to the Army during the Korean War. 

Weston launched Boxing Illustrated/Wrestling News in 1958 and published it until 1964, successfully competing with The Ring. The following year, Weston began publishing Wrestling Revue which soon became the best selling wrestling magazine in the world. In the 1970s, Weston started a new magazine, Sports Review Wrestling, that featured bloody covers and outlandish stories. Weston ensured access to wrestling's most important celebrities by hiring writer Bill Apter who cultivated friendships with the biggest stars in the business.

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 married to Hope Patrick (died 1980) for 38 years. A veteran of two wars, Weston remained in the Army Reserves, retiring at the rank of Major in 1966. 

He died on April 11, 2002, from pancreatic 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 in the world.

Legacy and awards
"He loved the history of boxing and everything about boxing, but boxing didn't make the money that wrestling did. He was very attracted to Ringling Brothers ... the whole freak show aspect of it... and that ties into wrestling because of freaks like André the Giant. They were sideshows. He was an amazing storyteller, whether he was talking about a cruise he took or writing in a publication." - Toby Weston Crone, daughter.
"There was, in fact, very little about Stanley Weston that could be considered tradtional. He was a writer who never read a book. He was a millionaire who drove a Ford Tempo. He was a former military officer who rarely barked orders. He was at the same time a man who watched every penny and the most generous soul I have ever met." - Stu Saks, publisher, Pro Wrestling.

International Boxing Hall of Fame
Inductee - Observer (2006)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Stanley Weston Award (1992)

References

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