By Jim Maltzman: Longtime ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael parted ways with the network this week after a 15-year-old run. Rafael states that when his contract with ESPN expired recently, they opted not to renew it.
For a lot of boxing fans, it’s tough to see Rafael go as he’s been an integral part of the sport for the last 15 years. With his in-depth articles, which deviated from the regular short articles from most boxing sites, Rafael was able to inform a lot of fans about the sport. His previews and post-fight articles on boxing were second to none.
It’s going to be tough for ESPN to replace a guy like Rafael because he’s a pretty unique writer. It’s a massive loss for ESPN to have Rafael gone from the network. He’s one of those types of writers that hard to replace.
According to Rafael, nothing was brought up about keeping him with ESPN in a different capacity. He feels that people that made the decision not to renew his contract the company wanted to go in a different direction.
Rafael doesn’t believe that the decision about his contract had anything to do with the global pandemic, but it feels that it didn’t help. There are no sports taking place right now, and ESPN has a lot of working for them. Rafael states that he was the highest-paid person in his field with the network.
Dan Rafael’s 15-year run with ESPN
“It was a good 15-year run. I did five years at USA Today, which at the time was the largest newspaper in the United States,” said Dan Rafael to IFL TV. “And I went from there to ESPN, the largest sports outlets in the United States and one of the biggest in the whole world. I had a great 15-year run, all in boxing.
“It couldn’t have been better. When you’re at a company like that and certain things change at the top, and new people come in, and they have ideas about how they want things to go and run. They take a look at their personnel, and you have an expired contract.
“My contract expired, and they did not renew it. Here I am, still very much alive, still excited about boxing, and can’t wait. I hope to be back with somebody at some point,” said Rafael.
“We never got to that point. I don’t think so,” said Rafael when asked if there was a possibility he could have stayed with ESPN in some capacity. “It didn’t move in that direction. It was pretty clear they wanted to do something different, and it was their prerogative,” said Rafael.
Rafael will likely be in demand once the economy and the sport starts back up. Right now, everything frozen and nothing going on. It’ll be interesting to see where Rafael’s ultimate destination is. With his gift of gab, Rafael would be ideal working fights as a commentator on television.
ESPN has other boxing writers, some of them relatively new. It’s unclear as they’re viewed as the guys they want to replace Rafael. It’s going to be challenging to find someone like Rafael that can break down the sport as well as him.
Perfect storm of events
“They tell you that you’re making more money than everyone else to be quite honest,” said Rafael. “Then if you have a chance to salvage at this point, you throw in a global pandemic in a company that’s reeling because of no sports are being televised or played, it becomes a perfect storm. I was part of that.
“It’s kind of like a boxer. You may have a great career, but things don’t end the way you want it,” said Rafael. “That doesn’t erase all the good things that happened before it. You get knocked down, you get back up, and you get another go. That’s what I plan on doing.
“I don’t think that’s the case at all. I don’t think it helped,” said Rafael when asked if his contract not being renewed with ESPN had to do with the coronavirus. “If there were any chances of working things out, this probably killed those possibilities.
“I didn’t get in that with them. No real offers. This has just become public in the last few days. On Monday, it was all over the place. I didn’t realize how big of a thing it was. The number of people in the sport of boxing and the fans on social media that don’t know me but have watched me on television or listened to interviews,” said Rafael.
Rafael started as a boxing writer for USA Today and then moved to ESPN in 2005. It’s impressive that Rafael was able to last as long as he did with one company. In most cases, people shift from company to company throughout their career. For Rafael to last as long as he did with ESPN, it shows how good of a writer he is.
Rafael still excited about boxing
“By and large, it’s been very positive and uplifting,” said Rafael about the comments that he’s received from people since leaving ESPN. “The amount of people that do know me that have worked with me at various capacities through the years have reached out in positive ways through e-mails and telephone calls.
“One thing that’s kept me busy the last few days is I wanted to reach out and respond personally to everyone that has reached out to me in the business.
“My excitement level and passion for the sport hasn’t been altered whatsoever,” said Rafael. “This is the mindset of one or two individuals at a company who’s prerogative is to do what they did.
“But it has nothing to do with the sport of boxing. It has nothing to do with it whatsoever. I can’t wait to get back to boxing. Not really,” said Rafael when asked if he knows what his plans are. “It might be different if we had a sport that was up and running, and we had a society that was functioning in a normal way.
“That would be different. Any place that I may look to go or any place that might show interest in me or my services, they’re not going to worry about that at this moment because they’ve got a lot of other things to worry about. I think the last thing they’re worried about is ‘how can I add another boxing person to my crew,” said Rafael.
It’s still too early for Rafael to now where he’s going to go for his next gig. Once things start back up, he should have a clearer picture.
